Balancing Act
by DarkKitsuneFluffy
Summary: After an accident on the Land of Departure, Luke (OC) is sent to the lands below as punishment until an old man with a hidden agenda breaks him out. Though Luke isn't your average keyblade wielder... [During Birth by Sleep.]
1. Chapter 1

Balancing Act  
>Chapter 1: Escape<p>

I don't own kindom hearts! That privelage goes to Square Enix and Disney. I only own some minor (and slightly larger) plot elements and my OC(s). Enjoy! :D  
>KHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKHKH<p>

The land of departure. Everyone should know about it by now. Its purpose. Its architecture. Its security. It's basically a giant castle, complete with training area, housing quarters, and a mountain summit with a stunning view of the stars. Each structure is on a different floating island connected together by large chains and wooden bridges. Though... what secrets does it hold below? This has never been touched upon, until now.

A small boy sat on a single small island in the middle of a sea of light. He had white hair that was combed back and his eyes were white with blue pupils. His skin was pale and his build was small. He couldn't have been older than fourteen at most. He wore a black and white checker patterened T-shirt and a white unzipped vest. His shorts were twice layered. Form fitting, black shorts underneath with a baggy, white, cargo layer above. On his shoulders were seemingly bronze shoulder guards with an ivory edging and a blue gem melded into the center of each. Around his neck was a chain necklace with a grey winged pendant that held a gem similar to those held by the guards, and on his feet were white sneakers with black armor. This was Luke.

He was doing his usual routine. Sit around, eating melon, while organizing the sand at his feet. He was stuck on this pathetic excuse of land. He had been for years. He atill remembered a dark haired boy holding back a blue haired girl as his master 'escorted' him off of the main establishment. It broke Luke's heart in two. Luke looked up at the floating islands and thought, "Will I ever see them again?"

Luke twisted his head at the sound of warping behind him. A large expanse of darkness openned behind him and out stepped two people. A boy wearing a purple and red body suit and a mask, and an old, bald man with a silver goatee who was wearing a rather large trench coat. Luke simply turned away and sulked thinking, "Darkness is nothing new to me."

The old man started, "Come now, my boy. What are you doing down here of all places?"  
>"I can't get back up." He replied simply before pointing up to the islands.<br>"Why not?" The man asked. His voice showed concern, but his golden eyes glowed with the promise of opportunity.  
>"I'm stuck."<br>"What if I could return you to that place you so desire?"

The old man was shoved into one of the few trees on the scrap of land which thay stood. The docile Luke was gone, now replaced by a new boy. His eyes changed to red pupils with black base. His hair spiked upwards and turned pitch black. His stare turned from innocent to menacing. The jewels he wore turned a deep violet and every scrap of black and white switched to the opposite color. This new boy had the old man against the tree with his arm behind his back.

"Sorry gramps, but I'm not really in the trusting mood." His voice held malice only a being of the dark could hold.  
>"Now, now, my boy. All you need to do is step through the door. Nothing more." The boy in the jumpsuit gestured to the darkness. Luke's dark side, called Seraph, just grunted.<br>"Let's see just how smart this descision was for you," and he was gone. The old man couldn't stop a maniacle laugh.

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Well guys, what do you think? Leave a reply. Send me feedback. Fluff is done. BYE! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Balancing Act  
>Chapter 2: The Master<p>

My appologies. I love writing, but I hate typing. Plus I'm forced to use notepad because of computer issues.

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"Hey, are you okay?" Luke openned his eyes to see a pretty bluenette staring down at him. Her huge eyes matched her hair in color and her clothing was an elaborate design of a tanktop, unnatached sleeves, metal boots, biking shorts, and assorted clothing hanging off her waist. Belts went across her tanktop forming an "X" and she wore metal gaurds at her elbows.

Luke sat up groggily and asked, "Are you my mommy?" The girl couldn't help but giggle. My name is Aqua, what's yours?" she asked.

"Luke..." he said, still out of it. "Where are you from?" Aqua asked. Luke stood up and walked to the edge of the platform they were on. Aqua, thinking the worst, grabbed him.

"What are you doing?!" She asked astonished. Luke just pointed down into the foggy blue abyss. "I'm from there."

Aqua felt sad for a moment before pulling him from the edge, into a hug. "You're here now. Don't worry, nobody is going to send you back down there." She grabbed him by the hand and guided him to a large building just off the way.

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"Master! I've found someone!" Aqua called across the room. Out came an aging man with gentle, warming features. He had black hair with a spiky ponytail and a bang hanging off his right side, and his face held a couple scars. He wore a knee length white coat, a similar tanktop to Aqua, a metal gaurd on his stomach, and metal boots.

"Yes, who is- "He stopped talking as he saw the boy. The master summoned his keyblade and rushed Luke, pushing Aqua away from him and slamming the poor boy into one of the supporting pillars. He had his keyblade at Luke's neck.

"How did you get back here?" The master asked. There was obvious hostility in his voice. Luke could barely breath. "Please master - I just - wanted to come home." The boy barely choked out between gasps.

"How did you get here?!"  
>"Master, PLEASE!" Aqua yelled to no avail. He wouldn't listen.<br>Luke choked out," Old man- big coat- masked boy- dark..." He passed out. The master released his keyblade and Luke fell to the ground. "Xehanort, what have you done now?" He grumbled.

Aqua sat in silence and horror where she was pushed to. Her master, the kindest person she knew, openly attacked a random person without remorse. From a flight of stairs came two boys. One shouted, "Master!" while the other yelled, "Aqua!" Only then did they notice Luke.

His form flickered, inverting in color in its entirety. Seraph stood up, still slightly kneeling. "You know, 'Master'," he growled, using 'master' sarcastically. He stood to his full height and looked at the aging man. Aqua was even more afraid now. She could feel the darkness emanating from Seraph. "That was really bad on your part!"

To his hands came two small keyblade like objects, but they would be better described as daggers. They were the same design with an ornate main body of one color with a hilt and teeth of wings, though one was black with red wings and the other was white with blue wings.

He rushed at the master with both blades ready to strike. The master attempted to block, but ended up recieving a kick to the gut. A shockwave of dark energy erupted when he kicked and the master was sent backwards into a large chair. He coughed up blood on impact. "Master Eraqus!" The three pupils cried.

Seraph yelled, "That was for stranding me!" He turned and started walking away. Aqua yelled at him, "What happened to you? I thought you were nice!"

"Hehe, what gave you that idea. I thought all teenage girls liked... the... badboy..." His speech slowed until he dropped his daggers and fell unconcious.

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Luke woke up in a cell. His wrists and ankles were tied to the back walls. He didn't cry, scream, or yell. He just asked, "What happened." Aqua peered from around the corner whispering, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Well, what do you think? Next time: The mark of mastery exam. Rate, review, comment, and I'll see you guys next time.


	3. Chapter 3

Balancing Act

Chapter 3: The Exam

Thanks for being patient if you are still reading this. Too many anime to watch, manga to read, and video games to play. Enjoy. :)

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Aqua walked up to Luke's cell; questions swimming through her head. As she approached, Luke didn't move or acknowledge she was even there. He sat there asking, "What did I do?" Aqua felt slight pitty and regret. 'How could this kid cause so much trouble? He seems so innocent.'

"Why can't I remember? Why are there so many holes in my head?" Luke asked. Aqua thought, 'Does this kid have partial amnesia?'

Another boy came from around the corner. He was tall, had spiked brown hair going up in a point, and blue eyes. He wore a black T=shirt with black areas highlighting the sides of his torso, and metal boots. His pants were traditional, light brown, hakama. His right arm was bare, save a black wristband, and his left arm was adorned with a fingerless, elbow length, black glove. A type of shoulder gaurd was on his left arm that continued down to his wrist.

He looked warily at Luke. "Aqua, the master wants him to witness the exam." Aqua turned to him in slight confusion and shock. "Terra, after what he did yesterday-?" Terra held up his hands as if saying, 'my bad.' "That is to say, Master Xehanort..."

Terra trailed off as he saw the form of Luke flicker revealing Seraph. The darkling half started laughing maniacally. "Xehanort as in tall, bald, big coat?" he asked with a savage grin. Terra nodded. Seraph continued to laugh. "My luck's finally turning around." The dark faded revealing a sleeping Luke. "What happened?" the two awake teens asked in confusion, before Terra carried him to the exam hall.

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Luke woke up again with his wrists cuffed with light magic, and his body tied to a chair. He looked up to see Eraqus was the one he was tied to. To his left side sat the large man that had gotten him off the island. Shocked, he scooted closer to Eraqus's chair, only to hit his head. "Ow." He ended up rubbing the spot with both hands because of the cuffs.

"You're awake. Good. Now watch. You've done enough damage already" Eraqus commanded with a hint of threat in his voice. Luke looked down in shame and fear as he pulled his knees to his chest. 'What did I do?'

Eraqus stood to address his students. The blonde from earlier stood by the wall and Aqua and Terra stood strong in front of their master as he started. "Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery. Not one but two of the Keyblade's chosen stand here as candidates, but this is neither a competition nor a battle for supremecy; not a test of wills, but a test of heart. Both of you may prevail, or neither. But I am sure our guest, Master Xehanort, did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short of the Mark. I trust you are ready?"

"Yes." Both pupils replied, entirely serious. "Then let the examination begin." Eraqus loaded his keyblade, the master keeper, with energy and summoned forth several balls of light, each as tall as Luke himself. The young boy saw Master Xehanort make a strange hand motion before he held his head in pain as a migrain shook his world and the balls all corrupted with an aura of darkness.

Eraqus turned to the now Seraph. "What are you looking at me for? I just woke up!" Two balls floated towards Aqua and Terra who easily swatted them away. Another homed in on the Blonde who easily slashed it in half with his back handed way of fighting. (Literally back-handed.)

"Ven!" Both Aqua and Terra cried in alarm. "Guys I'm fine. Just continue with the exam!"  
>"But Ven, you're in danger. Go to your room." Aqua scolded.<br>"No way, I've been looking forward to this- seeing you two become masters. I'm not going to miss it now!"  
>"He can take care of himself." Terra supported. "He's been out there training just as hard as us."<br>"Yeah!" Ven agreed. "Stay sharp Ven." Aqua reminded him, and the trio jumped into the fray.

Meanwhile Luke was arguing with Xehanort. "You knew this would happen! Didn't you! That's why you let me off the island!"  
>"What is he talking about, Xehanort?" Eraqus asked with anger in hi voice.<br>"He seemed so sad. Call it pitty on a broken heart." Xehanort bluffed.  
>"I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY!" Seraph yelled as he broke out of the cuffs of light and jumped into the fray.<p>

Aqua blocked a ball of light without noticing the ball behind her. She swiveled, but was caught off gaurd. She closed her yes expecting impact, only to see Seraph (though she thinks it is Luke) standing there. He winked at her before throwing his dagger at another ball and jumping to it.

Eraqus saw something strange that day. The entire time Seraph was fighting, he saw a large dark aura surrounding the young one, but he could also see a highly concentrated pool of untainted light shining in Seraph's chest.

'What is that?' Xehanort had other thoughts. 'Interesting.'

All the balls disapeared from the onslaught in just under three minoutes, leaving Seraph to fade and, once again, leave an unconcious Luke. Eraqus cleared his throat and Terra carried Luke to the masters. "Thank you Terra."

The apprentices again took there places after Luke was placed in the far seat. Eraqus walked towards Aqua and Terra.  
>"That was unexpected, but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one I chose to let unfold." Eraqus explained. A small snort could be heard from Luke's unconcious form.<p>

"Which brings us to your next trial," Aqua and Terra moved to the center of the hall and faced each other, keyblades drawn. "Now, Terra and Aqua, the two of you will face each other in combat. Remember, there are no winners- only truths, for when equalpowers clash, their nature is revealed. Begin!"

Both apprentices charged at each other. They locked keyblades before going at each other with quick strikes. When one slashed, the other parried, and this persisted for long enough so the clangs could wake up Luke. He openned his eyes to see Aqua perform a back flip out of the way of an uppercut from Terra. 'She's so pretty.'

Terra pressed further, causing Aqua to backstep before she retaliated and he repeated the motion. Aqua went for a forward thrust to Terra and missed his face by inches. His surprise led to him jumping back and letting his unarmed hand prepare dark energy. Realizing what he was doing, Terra swiftly put out the spell and resumed the fight.

A grin crossed Xehanort's duo continued to go back and forth, blow for blow for what seemed hadn't missed the sight of Terra using darkness.

-After the Duel-  
>"We have deliberated and reached a decision. Terra, Aqua, you both performed commendably- However, only Aqua has shown the Mark of Mastery. Terra, you failed to keep the darkness inside you sufficiently in check, but there is always next time. That is all."<p>

The master turned to Aqua as he finished his speech. In the corner, Ven was talking with Luke.

"Hi, I'm Ven. What's your name?"  
>"I-It's Luke. What did I do? I don't remember anything, but a splitting migraine."<br>"You snapped at the masters, broke through your restraints, and proceded to take out the orbs of light with us."  
>"Oh? I didn't do anything bad?"<br>"No. I thought you were scary, but you're actually quite nice. I can't see why the master wanted to attack you."  
>"He wanted to attack me?" and the conversation continued from there, though not for much longer.<p>

Seeing the master walking away, Ven ran over to comfort his friend that didn't become a master. Luke left the hall and napped on the grass outside, just beyond the stairs. Aqua followed him. She stood over him with a stern look on her face.

"Are you sure you remember nothing?" She asked, her face slightly red. "Nothing but a head splitting migraine. I'm sorry if I did anything destructive or embarrasing that I don't remember." Luke sat up with his legs crossed while Aqua put her hand to her mouth as if thinking.

"Maybe the master can help?" She said hopefully. Luke looked away, worried and saddened. "I don't know. He's changed. I could see the conflicting emotions in his eyes, even if they held no darkness."  
>"Well maybe-"<br>"No!" A wave of light radiated from his body. "I'm sorry Aqua, but I got what I wanted. I'm home again. In the meantime, you've got your friend to try and cheer up." Luke walked off towards the summit with the same thought inside his head.

"What did I do?"

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Once again, thanks for being so patient. I'm sorry to you guys who wanted to read the story, but it wasn't there. (Muffinmilk and Artorius) That was entirely my bad. Rate, reply, and I'll see you guys next chapter. 'When things go wrong.' Bye! Also, guess which world will be explored first. Go ahead.


	4. Chapter 4

Balancing Act

Chapter 4: No Rest for the Kind Hearted

Hey guys. You know the old man would order this. Anything he knows will profit him, he will do. Enjoy!  
>Disclaimer: I only own Luke and Seraph as well as their tools. I don't own Kingdom Hearts!<p>

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Last Time: "I'm sorry Aqua, but I got what I wanted. I'm home again. In the meantime, you've got your friend to try to cheer up." Luke walked off towards the summit with the same thought inside his head. "What did I do?"

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Luke layed on the grass of the summit, enjoying the quiet. It was strange. The silence here was different from his small island. He liked it. Too bad he didn't get to enjoy it for long. His eyes cracked open to see a boy in a mask hovering over him. In all of Luke's Luke-ness, he easily freaked out and scrambled backwards. A large migraine shook Luke's head as the masked boy raised his hand.

Seraph looked on in rage as the pool of darkness around him tried to strangle him. Every second, the dark boy sank deeper into the darkness, and the masked individual could only wave. One more second, and Seraph faded to black. In turn, he failed to notice a brown shape exiting the world through a giant light in the sky.

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Seraph woke up on a long dark bridge, a huge castle looming over him. He couldn't help but spit in disgust. "Pity a broken heart. Right..." Making his way up the castle, he couldn't help but notice the lack of people. "Strange. Not unwelcome, but strange." Every corridor was empty. He went to open a door when he heard noise from down the hall. Walking over to the far door, he couldn't stop from chuckling. "Let's see what's behind door number 4."

A single tear ran down his emotionless face as Terra stood over a sleeping girl with his keyblade drawn. Seraph didn't pay the tear any attention as he tackled Terra to the ground. "Dude! And you thought I was bad!"

"Oh? What is this?" asked a pompous, haunting, female voice. The sound of it was like an echo, or as if she was speaking through a piano. Seraph turned to face a tall (woman?) dressed in a black cloak, wearing a tall jagged crown, and carrying a large staff capped by a green orb. He thought it was a woman, except she was too powerful to be one.

"Why am I afraid of her? I'm not afraid of anything!" he thought. Terra was still knocked down with a glazed look in his eyes.

A dark raven landed on her shoulder and she stroked it lovingly. "Well, well, my pet. It seems we have found someone even darker than myself." She turned to Seraph. "Would you be willing to make a deal?" She spoke with authority and conviction, as if she was used to getting what she wanted.

To her surprise, the darkling (his official title from now on) just scoffed. "Yeah, no thanks." Seraph continued to pick up Terra and start on his way out the door. The witch was furious. "Vile simpleton! You shall pay for disobeying me!" Seraph turned around to rebuttal, only to find a blast of magic go his way.

It easily hit its mark and the unfortunate pupil hit the ground with heavy eyes. The dark woman looked back at the now standing Terra. "My dear Terra, please finish what you started." His blank eyes nodded as he retook his place. The form of Seraph flickered on the ground.

Luke took full control and woke groggily before looking at the tall woman before him. He scrambled backwards like he had before, only instead hit a wall and summoned his daggers before placing them in an 'x' formation away from his chest.

The woman just smiled. "So there is more than one pupil with a keyblade. Interesting." Luke looked over to Terra who had a ball of light glowing in front of him. In that moment, a large flash of light exploded from the 'hikari' and the witch was forced to flee in a flurry of green flames, but not before taking the orb with her and leaving an evil laugh.

The light also seemed to wake up Terra who only noticed Luke because of his ragged breathing from his little 'outburst.' "Why does everything bad happen to me?" Luke sobbed. He didn't want to leave his little bubble, that is to say his sitting position with his arms wrapped around his legs which were tucked into his chest. Terra walked over.

"I know we got off on the wrong foot, but my name's Terra. You okay?" Luke looked up to Terra like he was an illusion.

"You're worried about my safety?"  
>"Sure, it seems as though you saved my life, so that makes us friends." Luke wiped away some tears. "The name is Luke." Sadly, the touching moment didn't last long as a large explosion rocked the castle.<p>

"What was that!?' Luke shouted, alarm in his voice. Terra was already out the door with keyblade in hand. Luke ran after him with both daggers at his sides.

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Honestly, how do you describe the monster that was terrorizing the throne room? Red, true... but not enough. Crazy... too vague. Well... you could tell where its face was by the glowing red eyes on the center pole. The base of the pole was attached to a large table that had three legs, all bending at a strange angle. The top of the pole had five spikes, an arm with a large spiked wheel attached to it rested near the top of the pole, and another arm came out from the middle of the pole with a giant sewing needle attached to the end. (Wheel Master)

Terra charged for the abomination with a loud battle cry. He swung his weapon just as he had during the exam. Every strike shook the foundation of the castle. Luke stared in awe at the display of power, but it wasn't long before the monster became enraged. On a whim, it started jumping around the throne room, causing shock waves upon landing.

Terra dodged them all and proceeded to chip away at the creature, leaving noticeable gashes in its body. An upwards slash caused the wheel to break off and shatter into dust. Screaming, the monster became cloaked in a dark energy before ramming into Terra, sending the young titan into a pillar. An audible gasp could be heard upon impact.

Luke clenched his daggers in his hands and rushed at the sewing table. With one strong leap, both blades plunged deep into the main stage of the creature, causing it to roar again and start bucking frantically. Pulses of light could be seen entering the body of the monster, causing significant damage. Eventually, the needle broke in the same way the wheel had.

Luke could see Terra attempt to stand again. The small hikari raised one dagger and yelled, "Cure!" A bud of green energy appeared over Terra's head and most of his wounds seemed to close in an instant. Sadly, since Luke needed to remove a dagger to cast the spell, he was flung off the wheel master and into a wall.

Summoning his keyblade again, Terra stood, now engulfed in a powerful copper aura. Every step he took caused the castle to vibrate and every hit landed on the creature didn't leave a gash, NO! It left a dent. Like it had been hit with a flail. Two slashes to the legs and it couldn't move. Several slashes to the main pole and it could barely stand. Terra finished it off by leaping high into the air, cleaving the baseboard in two, and generating a large shockwave which was visible to the naked eye.

Terra walked away as the monster faded from existance. The young titan slowly walked over to the hikari as his copper aura vanished. Luke sat up groggily, holding his head from the pain of the impact. Above him he saw Terra, keyblade over one shoulder and offering a hand to him.

"You okay?" Terra asked, helping him to his feet. Luke shook his head one more time before politely folding his hands together and answered, "I'm fine, thanks. I'm sorry if I caused any trouble." Luke lowered his head in respect and expected to be scolded. He only got a light pat on the head.

Luke looked up to see Terra giving him a soft smile. "You did good." The smaller boy replied with a smile brighter than his hair. The duo shared a laugh before heading out the main doors of the castle.

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Well that's it guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter of balancing act... YEAH RIGHT!

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If only it were that easy. The smile on Luke's face fell as soon as he saw the dark witch from before waiting for them on the bridge. He couldn't help but hide behind, the now mad, Terra's back. "MALEFICENT!" yelled Terra.

Maleficent wore the same smirk as she had in the princess's room. "Ahhh, (cough cough - scalene triangle - cough cough) Terraaaa... I see you have heeded my advice. Join me, and together we shall be rid of your weakness."

"Your Wrong!" Maleficent now stared speechless at Luke who was standing in front of Terra defensively. Terra doesn't need help, especially from you! He's stronger than you could ever hope to be!" The triumphant smirk the witch wore faded to an annoyed scowl.

"Impudent brat! None speak of I in such manner! Sleep for all eternity!" A blast of magic rippled from Maleficent's staff and shot toward Luke, striking squarely in the chest. A black spot showed where he was hit and he fell forward as the light faded from his eyes. A loud 'Whump!' could be heard as his head hit the stone bridge.

"Luke!" Terra yelled. "Maleficent, what have you done to him?!"  
>"I simply put the poor child to sleep. Now join me."<br>"Never!"  
>"Fine. You shall suffer the same fate as your friend!"<p>

Another blast of magic was shot at Terra. Too fast to dodge, and too big to block, Terra was out of options.

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-Inside Luke's Heart-

Luke sat in a large circular platform. The design of it seemed to be split in two at the center. The west side was several alternating rings of white and blue with a beautiful gleaming castle of the same colors. Several black land of departure insignia contrasted along the rings. The east side was the same except mirrored and while everything black and white was switched, everything blue turned red. The hikari sat on one of the double doors to the castle. At his back slept his paradox.

Luke kept slipping further into sleep, but delivered one message for his heart to hear. "Stop Maleficent. Help Terra." The dark eyes of Seraph shot open.

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The dark, sleeping spell slowed before being pulled to the unconscious form of the boy. Several shadows from around the bridge, from Maleficent's cloak, and even a small stream from Terra was all pulled to the sleeping shōnen.

"What sorcery is this!?" Maleficent yelled. Terra knew what they were looking at. He had seen Luke change a couple times already, but what happened next, no one expected. In contrast with the usual flickering that usually accompanies the boy upon change, the entire area exploded in a vortex of darkness. Terra dug his keyblade into the ground to prevent from being sucked in.

The vortex dissipated quickly, showing a standing Seraph, malice and sadism in his eyes but a hard look on his face. He looked directly at the sinister fairy in front of him and summoned both of his daggers. "Frequent headaches, forced sleep, and threatening my friend!? HA! You have made the wrong enemy, lady."

An aura darker than Maleficent's own surrounded the boy and both daggers floated in front of him, taking on an orientation like clock hands at six. "Burn in hell!" Both blades spun violently and an area engulfing flash of non-elemental magic fired from them in one giant beam. Seraph's battle cry could be heard for miles.

The light faded revealing the remnants of a green flame. Maleficent's laugh echoed across the vicinity. "Stop running, hag!"  
>"HA! I think not, fool," and the last remnants of her presence were gone.<p>

Terra stood back speechless. Slowly he walked up to the boy who had decimated the corrupted balls of light at the exam. "Luke?" he asked. The darkling turned to him. All of the rage had dissipated from his eyes, and his expression softened slightly. He put his hands to his hips and talked in a correcting tone. "The name is Seraph."

"Okay, thanks for saving me." The darkling turned away with a hmph. "I didn't do it for you. I wanted to hit that witch. That's all," but Terra could hear the horrible lie. Seraph spoke with his back to Terra. "You are strong, Terra. Don't be afraid of the dark."  
>"What?"<br>Seraph turned to the titan with a smirk. "Master may have attacked me for my affinity, but he forgets that as long as there have been wielders of the keyblade, they have been split between light and darkness. Darkness is only a tool to be used. The fact that you calmed your darkness during the exam is a show of your strength, not weakness."

Terra gave the boy a smile, but Seraph started talking again. "So, where to now?"

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This is the real end of the chapter, guys. Again, sorry to Muffinmilk and Artorius. Please just let me know he apology went through. Or just review on your own. That goes for any of you.

Notice: Luke/Seraph was never given a wayfinder. That means no d-link for him. Also, tell me what you thought of the mega flare I threw in.

As always, I'm Fluffy, see you guys next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Balancing Act

Chapter 5: Twin Lights

Okay guys, next world. I know it hasn't been too long since I uploaded last, but I've actually been trying to write this  
>chapter for months. Most of my work is written down before hand and I am usually two or three chapters ahead of what<br>I've uploaded. I also have plenty of works I've already scrapped so there is that. Anyway, let the madness commence!

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A canal. Just... a canal. They could have appeared anywhere on this world, but they had to show up in the equivelent to  
>a SEWER. It was nothing but murky water and long, dark hallways. If this place was any gloomier, it would have<br>depressed Seraph, and that's saying something.

The two boys walked into a singular room. It was decently decorated. Potion jugs surrounded the floor, large ornate  
>pilars stood near the entrance, and a draped shrine engulfed the entirety of the back wall. A woman in royal clothing (I'm<br>not fully describing her because SHE IS NOT IMPORTANT!) seemed to be talking to a mirror on the alter.

Seraph whispered,"What is her problem?" but none heard him. The woman spoke loudly, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall.  
>Who is the fairest of all?"<p>

A green face that looked like an opera mask appeared in the mirror. "You are beautiful, but there is a new light. The  
>young maiden with skin stark white."<p>

The woman turned away in rage with a flick of her royal navy cape, but Seraph sisn't stick around. The darkling left as his  
>friend went to confront the crazy queen. Seraph could deal with darkness, but confronting an enraged female, that would<br>be suicide.

After exiting the canals, Seraph came to a large open room and the entire area was littered with a wide assortment of  
>Unversed. A wide smile crossed the darkling's face as his insanity poked through. 'Finally some entertainment.'<p>

Terra ran up the path, having finished his talk with the lady and hearing sounds of a massacre. Earth shaker appeared in  
>his hand and he slid into the large room Seraph had found. A large black cloud slowly dispersed as Seraph was<br>revealed in all his glory, though he looked unsatisfied.

"Did you kill somebody?"  
>"Only Unversed." Seraph yawned loudly. "I thought that would have been more fun. Also, I'm dark, not evil. There is a<br>difference, Terra." The darkling motioned onward with his hands in a sweeping motion.

It didn't take long for him to reach the surface and Terra joined shortly after. They emerged into a castle courtyard,  
>blocked off at all sides by walls except for one exit arch.<p>

Seraph couldn't help but notice, "This is a castle, right? Shouldn't there be more people?"  
>"Don't question it. The less we are seen, the better off we are." Terra suplied and ruffled Seraph's spiky hair. Seraph just<br>batted his arm away. "So what did she want?"

Terra's face went dark. "She wants me to steal someone's heart." A pondering expression crossed Seraph's face. "The  
>mirror said something about a new light, right? So we need to meet this person and see how light they truly are."<p>

Terra gave him a small smile and walked towards the exit. Seraph smirked. 'He really is a second Eraqus.' The darkling  
>followed his friend into the light. He fell unconcious three feet in. Terra heard the thud loud and clear and turned swiftly to<br>his fallen ally. "Seraph!" The dark child before him flickered as Luke took hold of the body and Seraph fell unconcious.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow... Terra? Weren't we on the bridge? Why are we here?" Terra sweatdropped, but quickly stood streight  
>and cleared his throat. "We're here to meet someone."<p>

"Oh... okay." The innocence in his smile held more light than Terra held in all his being. The duo walked into a large  
>flower field just outside the castle. The only thing waiting for them was a young girl in a yellow ankle length skirt, a blue<br>and red blouse, and formal slippers. The shoulders were poofed out like balls and her blouse had a high white collar. In  
>her hair was a red band topped with a bow. Terra was busy trying to think of what to say. Luke just walked up to her.<p>

"Hi, I'm Luke. What's your name?" She gave a friendly giggle. "I'm Snow White." Terra put his hand to his chin pondering  
>something. 'So she's the one that caused Luke's appearance. Her heart must truly be pure light.' The young titan turned<br>to leave as another round of laughter echoed from the duo of light.

"Terra, are you leaving?" Luke called, slightly curious.  
>"Yeah, I need to talk with 'her highness'."<br>"Then I'll go with you." Luke made to stand up, but Terra cut in, "No, stay with Snow White. I want you to protect her if she  
>gets into trouble."<p>

Leave it to Terra to say _that_. It was like a flare went off calling a battalion of unversed to surround the trio. Not a single bud  
>could be seen past the navy matrial they called skin. "Luke, run! Get her out of here!" Terra commanded as he<br>summoned Earthshaker.

Luke grabbed Snow White by the wrist and time seemed to freeze. Both of their bodies became twilit silouettes and  
>several pulses of light shot from the duo, instantly vaporizing the surrounding whord.<p>

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Luke's body was translucent as he seemed to fly over a large circular platform. Sleeping in the center of the platform was  
>a boy that looked like Luke's twin only inverse color palette. "Who?" The crack along the center of the platform looked<br>slightly healed and some of the color from each side bled over. Though Luke couldn't see it, the form on the platform  
>was smirking. The shonen attempted to reach the dark boy before him, but was yanked backwards to reality.<p>

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Terra openned his eyes as the light died to an acceptable level and saw Luke standing next to Snow White, a little  
>woozy. She wasn't much better off. Terra ran off, still needing to talk to her highness.<p>

Luke finally managed to balance himself and bowed slightly to the princess. "I'm sorry miss.I didn't mean to grab you so  
>harshly. Is there anywhere you would be safe to stay?"<br>"Well, there is the cabin in the forest."  
>"Then shall we?" The forest met the two travelers welcomely, staying dark as night even during midday. Seraph didn't<br>stir.

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Well? What do you think? As always, reviews are welcomed. Feel free to draw any conclusions you may have.  
>Luke has finally seen his other half! And it only took five chapters! Till next time, I'm Fluff. :D<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Balancing Act

Chapter 6: The Forest Attacks

Yes guys, I know it's been a while. If you are just finding this fanfic then ignore that last comment. I try to give people time to reply and I try to get to each of my stories fairly; so my chapters per story aren't really that frequent. Also please understand that, while writing this, this chapter was torture because I could never make up my mind. At least the next chapter was easier to write.

Last Time- Luke saw his other self and decided to lead a princess of heart into a dark forest. Great Idea Genius! On with the story.

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"Run, Snow White!" Luke yelled as several of the trees in the forest uprooted and glowed with a dark aura. The limbs twisted into terrifying shapes and the trunks broke into haunting masks. Numerous branches swung at the hikari who batted them away with his twin daggers.

Luke unknowingly irradiated everywhere around him within several meters which gave the princess an easy anchor for traversing the woods they seemed to be trapped by. The possessed trees surrounded the duo and inched ever closer. Snow White cried out in alarm and the trees charged.

Luke let out a guttural scream, causing a bubble of light to erupt from his body. All of the trees stilled as the beacon passed over them. From each tree escaped what looked like little blue and white pills with vines escaping the capsule. Each looked visibly weakened from the blast but quickly jumped back into trees. The trees they took over turned a pitch black and melted before forming into a single black mass.

Luke dropped to his knees and gave a whimper. "Really?" In front of Luke stood a giant tree with a fearsome face. From the base extended four roots that acted like legs and three large red spikes adorned the top of each 'leg.' From the seemingly broken top extended three large branches with vibrant green leaves forming bushes at their ends. Small specks of red could be seen between the leaves and the same symbol from the (sewing machine?) back at the last world Luke visited.

"Snow White, run. Get away from here." The princess could see the exhaustion that permeated from Luke after his last attack but followed the orders given to her and ran for her life. The light-filled youth stood shakily and summoned his twins to his sides, ready for whatever the behemoth could throw at him. What he didn't expect was a small blur to start slashing at the giant oak… backhanded.

Ven gave another few slashes before back-flipping and letting five rays of energy escape from his keyblade in a cone pattern. (Fever Pitch) The tree took the full brunt of the blast, flinched shortly, and wacked Ven across the newly made clearing. (No trees left, remember?)

Luke jumped and attempted to grab Ven but was only sent flying with him. Both boys spun a few times before hitting the ground. Ven shook his head to put off the wooziness. "Luke?"

Luke had swirls for eyes and a slightly confused look on his face. "Hello Ventuses. Venti? Vent? Do you have any spare potions?" Ven grabbed a bottle of green liquid from… somewhere and handed it to Luke.

"Thanks."

"No problem. We juniors have to help each other."

"Why are you here anyway?"

"I've been looking for Terra."

The tree looked between the two young boys and yelled after being ignored for so long. With the outcry came a vehement shaking off its branches and several large red fruit flew out of them; raining over the battlefield. It took all the boys had to avoid the explosions created upon the fruit hitting the forest floor.

The tree beast charged at Luke who dodged to the side as the beast collided with a tree. Ven helped Luke to his feet. "If you're looking for Terra then your search shouldn't be much longer. He came to this world with me."

"What?" The tree turned to face them again and actually looked angrier than before.

"How about we defeat the tree and then I'll take you to Terra."

"Deal." The boys locked hands and confident expressions. Ven glowed white and Luke glowed green. The wind started to pick up around them and a disk of light illuminated their feet. As one they turned to the tree which rooted itself.

The boys jumped and flipped around the barrage of tiny spear-like roots that tried to get them from below and landed on the branches of the beast. Luke and Ven yelled "Light!" and "Wind" respectively which caused the fruit inside to explode. Both boys used the explosions to jump away and their elements melded together, creating a tornado of brilliantly glowing gusts.

Small openings allowed sight to the creature within which seemed to become scarier as more and more chunks were taken from its face. The tornado disappeared in an instant revealing the broken form of the monster and Luke and Ven at the beast's side and top respectively.

"Ven!"

"NOW!"

Ven bounced off with keyblade drawn and Luke faded with a flash of light, reappearing on the other side of the tree. The blades of both boys were flicked downward and two lines of light appeared on the monster's form. Four pieces of monster slowly slid apart before fading to mist.

The auras around the boys faded and both fell to the ground breathing heavily. Ven laughed. "How did –gasp- we do that?"

Luke returned the laugh and shook his head. "No –gasp- idea. It was cool though." Ven grabbed another bottle of green liquid from… somewhere and drank it heartily. Both waited to catch their breaths and stood. "So, you were saying Terra was here?"

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The boys left the woods just in time to see a large brown bike-looking glider flying towards a large green portal in the sky. Ven screamed out in desperation. "TERRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The glider gave no acknowledgment of hearing Ven and continued through the portal uninterrupted. Ven hung his arms in defeat and sulked.

Luke, on the other hand, noticed an elderly woman walking past them and that she had dropped something. A bright red apple. He tapped her shoulder. "Excuse me mam. I believe you dropped this." The woman turned to him with a crooked smile.

"It is alright young man. I have plenty. Keep that one." Truth be told, she had a giant basket of apples. Luke gave a small bow, but she was gone when he looked up. He took a bite from the apple without a second thought. Or was it apples? Since when did he have ten arms? The world spun around Luke and his vision went black. Ven easily heard the thud.

"Luke!" The form of Luke gave way to Seraph who held his head in annoyance. "Ohhhhh, that hurts. Just how hard did I hit my head?"

Ven tried once more, "Luke?"

"Huh? The name is Seraph. Learn it. Live it. Commit it to memory. Who are you?"

"Uh… Ventus. Call me Ven."

"How long have I been out."

"Not long."

"Then I guess it's time to go." The duo quickly left the world, leaving Ventus very confused.

'What happened to him?'

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Before ANYONE asks: Luke was never given a way finder from Aqua and will not be getting one anytime soon if ever. Due to this, I gave him the ability to use 'Limits.' I think it's only fair. Anyway, next chapter – The Ball.


	7. Chapter 7

Balancing Act

Chapter 7: The Ball

Hello again! For everyone new, welcome. For everyone faithful, welcome back. In this chapter we visit Cinderella's world. How will the darkling fair in a castle of light? Let's find out!

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Seraph's keyblade armor faded as he hit the ground. Unfortunately he didn't have the best footing. He bounced a couple times before colliding with a tree. He stood up rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"I need to work on my landings." Seraph took a look around before sighing. "And I lost Ven on entry. Great." The sarcasm dripped off of tongue as easily as ever.

In front of him was a simple path that led into a small clearing; softly illuminated by the brilliance that was 'The Castle of Dreams.' Seraph had to blink a couple times to adjust to it. 'Well, light means people,' He thought. Oh, he was right.

Being stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere can't be good for social skills, and it definitely didn't help him cope with the sight that met him at the front gates. One look into the vibrant gardens and he nearly froze. Hundreds of random people all shuffling around the place in their best suits and dresses. The vanity from the occasion was suffocating. It didn't help that he was nearly blinded from the abundance of light in the castle.

Suffice to say, Seraph was uneasy. Struggling to get through the crowd was challenge enough, but the ostracizing looks he received were even worse and they came from every possible direction. Then he reached the doors to the castle.

Seraph went to enter the doors when he was knocked onto his butt by a moving wall with spiked brown hair.

"Huh? Seraph, is that you?" Terra asked as he helped the darkling to his feet. Seraph shook his head to clear the disorientation from his sight.

"You know, I would make some smart remark about watching your step, but I can't really say that in this environment." The explanation was followed by a long sigh which got a good laugh out of the young titan.

"By the way, have you seen Ven?" Seraph asked. Terra stiffened slightly.

"You were with him?"

"Of course. I ran into him shortly after you went to talk to the queen. He said he'd been looking for you."

"Really? I need to find him. He tried to tell me something before I left the training grounds. I should have listened."

"Then go find him! I don't need to be the one hearing this." Seraph walked past Terra with a smile on his lips. Terra swiftly left with a determined look on his face. Now both had tasks to fulfill, but it seemed as though Seraph's would be infinitely more difficult than Terra's. Working his way through the rest of the crowd.

Seraph reached the end of the entrance corridor and nearly had a heart attack. The castle's main lobby was easily two and a half times larger than the training hall at the land of departure and packed tighter than the outer gardens. The amount of people actually forced Seraph to hide behind one of the pillars nearby to recompose himself.

Stepping out from behind the pillar, he noticed a brilliant flash of cerulean within the see of formality. His nervous smile shifted into a confident smirk as he slid through the crowd to his target. The girl spun quickly as he tapped her shoulder but saw nothing but air. She searched around for the source of the touch when a black head of hair caught her attention at the top of the set of double stairs.

The girl found the source of her confusion on the ballroom floor, waiting for her with an extended arm. She quickly shuffled over to him. Seraph welcomed her with a blank face. His head cocked slightly and his expression changed to that of a cocky gentleman. In a flash a black rose appeared in his hand which he put behind her ear. "I prefer a woman with a smile on her face. Glad to see you again Aqua."

"Luke, is that you?" she asked with caution. Seraph chuckled slightly.

"The name is Seraph." He held out his hand again. "May I have this dance?" Aqua hesitated at first, but chose to take his hand in good faith. The dance started slow but beautiful. It was a simple dance with some simple back and forth steps and a couple spins, but the movements of the actors were as fluid as the elements they represented.

The music ended and Seraph locked eye contact with Aqua. She seemed quite surprised. Those eyes that had held such malice when she had first met him and amusement during the exam seemed content at this moment.

Seraph returned her to her upright position and gazed into her eyes. They contained radiant pools of light that he could never hope to fathom, but he was okay with what he saw. Her lips seemed so soft in the smile they formed and he couldn't help but return his own.

"Aqua, never stop smiling." And with that line he stole a kiss. For a second he thought he was going into euphoria, but quickly realized unconsciousness was taking him and cursed his luck as his head hit the floor.

Aqua rushed to his side, still slightly flustered from the stolen kiss, and watched as his form flickered to reveal Luke. He held his head where it impacted the ground and looked at Aqua. "Hey Aqua. What happened?"

The look Aqua gave was one of anguish and the resounding 'SLAP' could be heard across the entirety of the castle grounds. The bluenette pushed herself through the sizeable crowd, forcing herself from crying.

"What did I do?" Luke asked himself. He didn't expect an answer.

"HAHA! Serves you right!" Luke looked around frantically for the source of the voice he heard but saw nothing that could fit the voice. He couldn't explain it. The voice sounded like his but slightly deeper. It also seemed to enjoy his misfortune.

Holding his head in frustration, the boy made his way outside the building with only the faintest of recollections from recent events. The farther outside he walked the less pain he felt but the more confusion he held.

Out the entrance corridor, out the gardens, and out the main gates he walked until reaching a long path of steps and taking a seat. His thoughts held his full attention and that attention didn't seem to be moving anytime soon. That was until the flashes in the distance started and captured the entirety of his focus.

The light that he emitted naturally was enough for him to see a woman in blue with a large metallic key fighting a large demonic pumpkin carriage with the Unversed emblem almost painted across its face. Swarms of magical bubbles were launched from the large key, and seemed to harm it quite well, but the pumpkin held its ground and ran into the woman. She was forced to one knee upon landing.

That same mocking voice from earlier nearly knocked out his ears as it yelled, "AQUA!" The hikari's eyes grew devoid of all light as his hair and everything white on him turned a grey color. Luke lost complete control of his body yet his mind was fully conscious. His daggers were summoned against his will as his body charged down the path, hitting his left shoulder on the way down. His body became two balls of energy, one white and one black. His speed increased dramatically on the way.

Aqua saw the carriage speeding towards her ad braced for impact. The expected pain never met her as two balls of energy crashed into the carriage, sending it off course and stunning it. Both energy orbs chased each other while playfully, but destructively, bouncing on the surface of the unversed. Every spot left burn marks with the only indication of which ball hit being the color of the burn's edges.

The body began sagging tremendously but the balls weren't done yet. They met in the air forming a suit of ebony and silver armor with contrasting twin key daggers and dove downwards, both blades plunging hilt deep in the monster. The monster screamed painfully as light and dark energy rapidly escaped the hilt of the blades and filled its body at an alarming rate; causing the creature to inflate rapidly, the pitch of its screams rising with the pressure in its body.

The knight crossed both blades while pulling them out of the rapidly inflating body and jumped away as the monster exploded in a brilliant display of darkness and light. Aqua watched as the figure stalked towards her and both of his weapons faded away. Fear filled her as the figure knelt next to her and put a hand to her chin.

Aqua's breath caught as the figure's armor dissipated revealing the same boy she had slapped not fifteen minutes earlier. No, this wasn't the same boy. She noted his eyes when she slapped him and they were full of curiosity, confusion, and limitless light. What she saw now were the same, content, onyx eyes that she had danced with.

He stroked the petal of the rose he had given her. "I prefer women with a smile on their face."

He gave her a simple kiss on the cheek and stood before bowing and fading with the darkness at his feet. It would take twenty seconds for Seraph to reach the gardens. It would take another ten for Aqua to remember to breath.

Seraph found a good spot to rest behind a shrub in the gardens. He wasn't about to complain. That spectacle had used a lot of his energy (as well as Luke's) and he needed to nap. He grew slightly desensitized to discomfort after his stay on the lower islands and a shrub was better than nothing. Consciousness faded from Seraph and Luke didn't take over. For once the body got some rest.

Inside their heart, the boys slept back to back with smiles on their faces. The scar across the middle of the platform had almost completely healed. Both boys sat on the door respective to their sides. The doors were unlocked.

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There you go guys. 1,685 words of pure fluff and action. (Not counting Author's notes!) Luke knows something is up now and Seraph is moving in on Aqua. What happens next? Stay tuned to find out. Next chapter, the garden. Review, favorite, and see you guys next chapter! XD


	8. Chapter 8

Balancing Act

Chapter 8: The Garden

Hey! Welcome back! This chapter is Radiant Garden so prepare for things to happen. Also, thank you UnderTheDeepBlue for the compliment. Remember people, reviews equal work ethic. On with the show!

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"Hey, kid. Why don't you come with me?" Luke turned to the new voice talking to him. Of course he had his skepticism, but he had a lingering feeling something was wrong since the whole castle fiasco with Aqua and it still followed him to this new world. The place was even brighter than that castle and Luke felt slightly at home. The only thing that stopped him from being off guard was the dark aura the man in front of him was putting off.

He seemed to be wearing some type of guard uniform and carried a gun in each hand. His smirk was cockier than Seraph's demeanor and his long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

"Why should I go with you?" Luke asked nervously. The guard with the surfer accent laughed.

"I know about your 'condition,' kid, and I know somebody who can help you. He's my benefactor. Come with me. The name's Braig." His voice hid an ulterior motive that could have been heard by anyone, but Luke's curiosity and fear got the best of him. Reluctantly, he followed the strange man up the countless amounts of stairs to the castle.

Braig reached the castle gates with Luke following close behind. The guards at the gate let them past as soon as Braig waved his hand. The old man said this would be an easy job. Just bring the little snot to the highest tower and force him into a sleep. Then the geezer would take care of everything. Braig thought he had this in the bag. There was only one problem. He forgot he was escorting a kid.

Luke's head started spinning as soon as he entered the castle, taking in all that was around him. Some ornate tapestries. A couple trophies and vases. The sterile smell that permeated the hilltop fortress. And finally a single set of stairs that led downstairs. Braig was celebrating in his head when Luke wandered off.

Farther down into the castle basements he walked. Pipes hung over his head and steam sometimes sputtered from a random joint but nothing was dangerous. The only thing that could be considered unsafe was that there was no form of lighting down there and Luke didn't have to worry about that because he emitted a constant aura of light in a ten meter radius.

Still, dangerous or not – and despite the lack of unversed – Luke was lost in every sense of the word. He wandered aimlessly until he stumbled upon a single corridor with a single wall bound torch and a single simple door. By this point I think you should realize- Luke is naturally curious. He entered the door of course.

"Hello?" Luke asked cautiously, his head being his only body part showing through the door. An aging man looked up from his desk. His long blonde hair and short goatee made him look intimidating, but his expression gave reassurance to his friendliness. He stood up revealing a long white lab coat.

"Hello young one, how did you get down here? My name is Ansem." The best way to describe him would be the favorite grandpa in the family. Luke looked at him and bowed.

"I'm sorry for intruding. I got lost. My name is Luke. Braig said there was somebody here who could help me. Would you be him?" Ansem's eyes narrowed at the name Braig, but quickly softened when he realized Luke's request.

"Of course, my boy. Please come this way." Ansem moved over to the far wall and placed his hand on it. A bright flash turned the office white and quickly faded, revealing a hidden passage. Luke's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and he could have sworn he heard a whistle from behind him. He turned quickly to find no one there. Ansem stood at the pathway with a beckoning hand.

"Quickly now." The hikari followed at a steadfast pace and the good man before him opened up another door. Inside was a strange glowing wheel thing on the wall and a computer that took up the entirety of the side wall. Ansem pulled a lever from a wall and a small couch folded out for Luke to sit on. The boy swore he heard a second whistle.

"Now, why don't you tell me about your problem?"

"Um, well…" Luke's shy side started to poke through.

"Go ahead. I can't help if I don't know what the problem is."

"Well, I sometimes hear a voice in my head that isn't mine, and whenever I go to sleep… I wake up someplace else. Each time I wake up I get confused for someone else and they say I did stuff I didn't do."

"Hmmm. That is interesting. Hold on one moment." Ansem pulled another lever and a rack of vests came out of the wall. All of them had a symbol on them; a black heart with a thorny X going through the middle.

"Please put one on. It is the only way I will find out if there is anything wrong with you." Luke looked at the garment skeptically. "Do not worry, boy. I have been studying the heart all my life. It is my field of expertise. I would not have somebody wear one of my inventions unless I knew it worked."

"Oookay." Luke grabbed one of the vests and slung it on. Instantly it lit up and the empty space on the insignia started glowing. A zigzag line that looked similar to stitches went up the center of the design and the sides divided by this line were complete opposites. On the left was a thick murky purple with black accents while the right was a shining white with golden highlights.

If that didn't concern Ansem, then the silver heart shapes in both sides of the ensignia definitely did. He simply smiles at Luke.

"Well, nothing to worry about. You just have a small intruder. Once we get him out then you should be feeling plenty better." Luke beamed at that.

"Now come on. If we are to get him out of you then we must hurry. He may try to put up a fight." Luke followed Ansem down a couple more flights of stairs.

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-Rewind a little bit-

Seraph had only woken up after Luke had gotten lost and right now he was in the same position Luke had been in the Castle of Dreams. Completely conscious and unable to control his actions. He felt like he was being teased. The basement was plenty dark but the darkness always stayed ten meters from him no matter where his body went. Then he saw the door.

He noticed the old man in the room and regarded him as 'just another person.' Then he stood up and put his hand on the wall. The darkling was blinded momentarily but let out a whistle as the new corridor was opened. His head turned swiftly for no apparent reason and the old man urged him to follow. He walked into a room with a rather impressive computer and the old man pulled a lever.

Seraph couldn't stop himself from whistling again as a, considerably comfortable, couch folded out from the wall. A little bit more talking and Seraph saw the rack of vests leave the wall. Then he decided to tune into the conversation.

"Well, nothing to worry about. You just have a small intruder. Once we get him out then you should be feeling plenty better. Now come on. If we are to get him out of you then we must hurry. He may try to put up a fight."

Panic filled the darkling as the thought occurred to him. 'They are going to rip me from my own body?!' His body walked down some stairs and stood on a platform in some type of underground factory. The platform lit up and lightning arced from the edge of the circle.

"I'm sorry, boy, but please endure the pain." The lightning twisted and redirected so that it came in contact with Seraph's chest. Instantly he started screaming, but his voice sounded doubled with one being ever so slightly higher. His screaming would have been heard for miles if he wasn't underground. Every second he felt lighter until he heard something snap and he was lifted from his body.

At first he felt confused at the sight of his body –'Why is it so bright?'- but then he felt more panic as he was sucked into a capsule on one of the walls. The capsule followed a suspended track system until he was at ground level, just meters from his heavily panting body and the old man. He didn't realize until then, but he was breathing just as heavily.

The capsule opened and he fell out but still couldn't move.

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Luke was still getting over the pain when the capsule opened a pile of black gunk. It slowly shifted and formed what seemed to be… him. Sure the hair was different and the colors were inverted but the body shape and overall attire was him. Even the face was the same.

The new boy struggled to stand, but whenever he got above his knees a blast of electricity shocked him. "What's going on?" Luke asked fearful. Ansem put a reassuring hand on Luke's shoulder. "It is fine Luke. That is just a safety measure. It is to keep him from acting hostile." 'ZAP'

"But you're hurting him." 'ZAP'

Ansem looked at him with warm eyes. "You have suck a pure heart, but this is a creature of darkness. He will bring nothing but destruction." 'ZAP'

Seraph fell once again and started crawling towards the duo. He didn't hear much, but he got the gist of it. "So you think that darkness is always bad, huh? You're as bad as Eraqus." He finished it by spitting at Ansem's feet. The only movement from the darkling was his panting from exhaustion. "Who are you to decide what is wrong and right?"

At first the boys thought Ansem had coughed. No, he had started laughing. "You are wise beyond your years, dark one. So tell us, what makes you so different?"

"I can make the choice…" Ansem just laughed louder.

"Fine, now leave."

"Give me my body back."

"Y-your body?" Luke cut in. Seraph glared at him.

"Yes, _my_ body. The one I was born in and so rudely kicked out of. Give it back."

"B-but, I was the one born in this body." The boys stared at each other in silence. Ansem put a hand to his chin.

"Interesting. Well, I will leave it with you two to find truth in this mess. Good day." Ansem left with his hands in his coat pockets. The boys were still staring at eachother.

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"What do you mean you lost him? He is one child."

"He wondered off, ya geezer. I'll find him. Just sit back and stop nagging me."

"Fine, but find him later. For now, we have a show to put on for young Terra."

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And there's chapter 8! The boy is split, and it only took a mad scientist! Anyway, thanks for reading, Rate, review, and see you guys next time.


	9. Chapter 9

Balancing Act

Chapter 9: Compromise

(Insert disclaimer here…)

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Seraph flipped onto his back after another jolt of electricity. Luke rubbed his arm silently and walked over to the darkling. Seraph's panting had gotten heavier and small black specks started to filter off of him around his back where he got hit. Luke crouched next to him.

"How is it possible that we were both born into this body?" Seraph shrugged as best he could.

"Idiot, you expect me to know these things?" Seraph let out a strangled sigh. "I can barely move, let alone think."

"Then why don't we fix that?" Luke offered hopefully. He could see the Tuzla-powered orbs ready to strike at any moment and, despite Seraph being 100% darkness, Luke just couldn't watch him suffer. The lightkin grabbed Seraph by his wrists and started lifting him up. The laser started humming and Luke knew what was coming.

"What do you think you're doing?" Seraph asked. Another bolt of electricity fired down. Luke twisted his body and took the bolt while dropping to a knee. He harshly sucked in air through his teeth at the bolt's contact but didn't drop any further. Once again he stood up and started walking while supporting his 'twin.' The bolts came at regular intervals so it was easy for Luke to intercept each one; though not entirely easy to take. Ten more bolts came before they made it up the first flight of stairs and out of range of the wall mounted weapon and small specks of white was drifting off Luke's side.

The duo struggled to get to the top of the stairs where they both promptly collapsed onto the couch -which Ansem had neglected to put away- with a loud 'HMPH!' "Thanks, but I still want my body back." Luke flinched while Seraph just laughed.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't try to take it back now. I doubt you have a way to give it to me, I don't have a way to take it from you, and, knowing me, our best bet would be one of those meddling old men. (Eraqus, Xehanort, or Ansem.) I'll bide my time."

"That sounds… cryptic." Luke said timidly. "I'm going to find a way out of here."

"Whatever, light bulb." Luke couldn't get away fast enough. Seraph may not have seemed evil, but he was still unsettling. Sadly, now he had to go into the pipe labyrinth… again. Joy…

-Timeskip-

"That took way too long." Luke complained to open air. If he kept the correct time then he was down there 'navigating' for a good hour or so. Boy was he glad to be out of there. Out the front doors he walked to find an abandoned courtyard. Or, almost abandoned. Braig came running up the stairs that led into the gardens looking quite tired. "About time I found you, squirt!"

"Ummm, Braig right?" You can't blame Luke's naivety for this one. Braig had a scar on his cheek and an eye patch covering his left side.

"Good boy, you remembered. Come on, my benefactor still wants to meet you." Feeling bad for running off earlier, Luke simply nodded and followed the Pirate with the surfer accent. (In how many stories can you write that that aren't Kingdom Hearts related?)

Seraph, meanwhile, felt a slight shiver while making his way through the castle basement. 'What was that?'

Braig led Luke through the seemingly empty gardens to the town square. He briefly glanced at two blonde kids running to meet up with a blue haired child. The blue haired kid locked curious eye contact with him before Luke disappeared down the stairs to the outer gardens.

Another shiver ran down Seraph and his head shifted slightly at the feeling. 'What is going on? There is nothing here but darkness! I shouldn't be feeling this way!' Upwards he continued out of the castle.

Braig couldn't hold back the smirk that came across his face. 'Everything is going perfect.' Just another couple minutes and everything will be set.' The pirate led Luke farther into the gardens, straight to a large beautiful fountain with a hole in its side. Luke was visibly shaking from the power exuding from the fountain entrance.

Another shiver ran down Seraph's spine. 'Okay, now I know it isn't me.' He stood in the inner gardens and waited for another shiver. It came almost instantly.

Luke hadn't expected _this._ The shock had been enough to knock him onto his rear and send him scrambling backwards. The hikari stared up at the bald benefactor with mixed amounts of confusion and fear. "Hello my boy." Xehanort greeted, "Good to see you again."

More shivers went down Seraph's spine as he entered the town square. He gaped at the sight that met him there. A blonde boy, blonde girl, and blue haired boy were beating away a group of Flood that was surrounding them while two tall men –one with an axe and the other with a spear- were beating back a Bruiser to little success. The blue haired boy spared Seraph a glance before beating in the face of one of the blue freaks surrounding them.

Seraph sort of liked the kid. He was scrappy. And that small bit of acknowledgement was enough for Seraph to intervene. A quick burst of energy sent the darkling at the group of kids where he stopped in the center. His weapon appeared in a flash of light and he spun in a quick circle, effectively vaporizing the small fry. The blue haired kid looked at him with respect and thanks. Seraph didn't look at him. He instead looked at his hand to find only a single blade. Black with red wings.

The guards each sliced at the Bruiser one more time and it fell with a thud before fading to shadow. Loud clapping could be heard and the blue haired boy was trapped in some type of cage made of the same material as the unversed.

"Well done. The geezer was right about you, but you're still not strong enough to beat me." A cocky voice called. A boy in a skin tight red and black suit and helmet continued walking forward as he clapped. "You did well, for a weakling."

Seraph pointed his blade at the boy. "Who are you calling weak!?"

Meanwhile, Luke dodged another blast of dark energy as he tried to run away from the geezer. Again he ran towards the stairs only to be kicked away by Braig. It didn't help that he could only summon a single blade, but he also felt weaker. Xehanort fired three bursts in succession and watched for what he thought would happen.

The old master knew that Luke shifted dramatically when around a source of great darkness and he was counting on this. Sadly he had let loose a dozen blasts already and there was no change. Xehanort was annoyed but intrigued. Xehanort saw a lot of himself in the young pupil. Others would have tried to fight; Luke ran because he knew he couldn't win. Other people would have given up early on; Luke didn't give up no matter what was thrown at him. Others would have tried the same thing again and again; Luke approached the situation differently after every failure.

He seemed to have a survivalist way of fighting and you usually didn't see that in light users. Another two blasts were loosed, hitting Luke in the back. Xehanort expected the boy to go flying but the blasts seemed to be absorbed by the pupil's body.

"Come now, boy! Show me that dark power you unleashed at the exam!" Luke nearly snapped. _THAT_ was what this was about!? He didn't remember any of that! That was Seraph! Luke wasn't happy.

"**That wasn't me!" **Luke's voice sounded in triplicate as a powerful blast of light engulfed the entire underground area, blinding the old coot and gunslinger in the process. It ended just as quickly as it had started and Luke was gone when it cleared.

Seraph and everybody else in the town square could feel as the wave of light washed over them.

"Well, that's my signal," The masked boy said. A swirling hole of darkness formed next to him.

"Don't run from me!" Seraph yelled as he lunged at the boy. The mask turned to face the darkling. "Fool." In one swift movement the boy dodged the lunge and kicked Seraph through the dark portal.

"That should teach you. Enjoy the trip, idiot." The masked boy left through another portal, leaving two scared kids and two guards to break the blue haired boy out of the unversed cage.

Back underground, Xehanort was contemplating how to continue with his latest experiment.

BABABABABA

And that's a wrap. Thank you all loyal readers for staying with me, thank you newcomers for reading this fic, and thank you Square Enix for not sueing me. See ya next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

Balancing Act

Chapter 10: A fork in the road

I only own my OCs and original ideas.

A/n: Before anyone asks, I'm made sure this makes sense. I've been structuring Seraph and Luke's story through the canon timeline of BBS. They fell asleep in the castle of dreams and arrived at the radiant garden late. This gives them plenty of time to skip Disney Town as it is an unnecessary world and the twins never got all access passes anyway. Thanks for the wait and enjoy the chapter.

BABABABABABABA

**Seraph:**

An unhappy darkling is a bad darkling. Not only was he, oh so rudely, _kicked_ through a portal of darkness, but now he had to deal with a whale alien! Even thinking that is grounds for a headache. His wrists were cuffed and he was being forced into a rather curvy hallway in who knows where. In the meantime…

"Where do you think you are taking me you ***. You have no right to take me anywhere! If my hands were free I'd kick in your *** *** until ********** and-"(Seraph has a colorful pallet of insults that I can't match. I will say this, they are not curses.)

"Shut up you insignificant bug! You are lucky the grand councilwoman wanted you locked up or you would be a stain on the walls of this ship! Now keep moving!" The whale's giant foot kicked Seraph straight into the jail lock, across the room, and into a cell which swiftly locked behind him.

Mr. Whale promptly turned away with a sneer. "Enjoy your stay in confinement, bug."

**Luke:**

Sometimes it's a good thing to disappear in a random flash of light. Luke was trying to survive before. Now he found himself in a city of light made of polished and masterfully crafted marble. Sure, some of the locals were odd – all of them seemingly half human and half animal- but they appeared friendly. Well, most of them…

"You gotta' get ready for the gaaaaames. Who's gonna' believe the would be hero if he doesn't train? I got two words for you. Eat, sleep, practice." Luke couldn't hold back a small chuckle at the antics of the half-goat in front of him.

"Hey, who are you laughing at, kid? That is no way to treat your teacher." Luke laughed more.

"What's so fu- oh?" The goat had turned around and stopped in mid-sentence upon seeing Luke. "Sorry, wrong guy. Listen kid, I don't have time for this. The games are coming up and I haven't got the time to entertain rookies."

The hikari cocked his head in confusion. "Ummm, what are the Games? And who are you?" There was clearly no offense in his tone but the goat man still reacted like he had been stabbed in the back. Luke rushed up to him before he could fall.

"Uh, I'm sorry if I offended you mister."

"Ow… that's a blow to my ego." Mr. Goat sighed before straightening up. "Listen up kid. You just bought yourself a one way ticket on my bad side. I've got two words for you. You, will, sweat. Or my name isn't Philocetes!" Luke's expression went from confused to terrified. Phil could look evil when he wanted to.

**Seraph:**

Seraph had grown bored enough to start writing on the ship with dagger slashes when something happened. The giant door to the jail block opened and the whale walked in, a certain spiky haired brunette following him in cuffs.

The young titan was swiftly guided to an empty cell and it shut behind him just as quickly as Seraph remembered.

"Wow, what are the odds?" Seraph looked across the room with a smirk as Terra spotted him. Terra was rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "Seraph?"

"The one and only."

"Quiet!" The whale yelled.

"Make me!" Seraph yelled back. The whale's giant maw grew into a cruel grin as he pressed a single button on the wall. Seraph's cell lit up as lightning arced from a single spike at the ceiling. His yells of pain echoed through the holding block. When the light cleared Seraph was on the floor breathing heavily.

"Is that all, shark bait?" Seraph wheezed, getting Terra to blanch. "And by the way, you've got company you stubborn ***." True to his word, several unversed started appearing from the floor and random dark portals. Whale face was easily shocked.

"W-what are these things!?" He attempted to shoot them but they easily dodged his laughably bad aim. Terra's keyblade glowed with several rays of light at the teeth as he swung it in an arc. The whale ran out of the room screaming something about 'telling the grand councilwoman' as Terra's cell opened. The main doors were already closed by the time Terra freed Seraph.

The –still smoking- darkling gave his best smirk. "About time, Terra."

"Oh, shut it." Terra threw back with a friendly smile and an extended arm. Seraph took it greedily but was still dragged to his feet by Terra's natural strength. Seraph's dagger materialized in his right hand. "I believe we have some baddies to smoke."

"You're already half way there."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Seraph didn't realize that there was still smoke coming off of his hair from when he got shocked. Terra gave an 'all-knowing-big-brother' type of smirk and waved it off. Together they charged.

**Luke:**

The young hikari was currently busy running for his life from a mad half goat. (Ahhh, the glorious things you are allowed to write in fan fiction.) "That's right kid! Keep running! This is only the first part of your training!" Phil yelled from behind.

"Please stop following me!" Luke yelled back. His legs were turning to jelly as he ran through one of the shadowed alleys of Athens. His natural luminescence was working against him as Phil just followed the light he emitted.

"Come on kid! Ya gotta' be quicker than that!" Luke's dagger appeared in his left hand.

"HASTE!" Phil tripped over his hooves as he watched Luke's speed double. The satyr's mouth hung open as Luke's light vanished from view.

Across large marble landmarks and expertly carved canals he jumped in order to get away- as far away as possible- from that stupid so-called trainer of heroes. Over an aqueduct, jump off a temple, push past a nymph, hop off some unversed, run into a brick wall…

Okay, that had to hurt. Though it wasn't exactly a brick wall. Luke fell flat as the muscular boy he ran into fumbled backwards. A couple grunts later and they were limb-locked as a ball of flesh.

"Hey, what's the rush?" cried the kid, half amused. He had these electric blue eyes that sparkled like a puppy's and his hair was jet black and jetted backwards in spikes. His bangs framed his angular face. He was wearing some type of black, Greek military vest but he shoulders were steel. On his hands were black gloves and his blue pants slid into his calf height boots.

It took a second of struggling for the two of them to untangle. Several flood pounced on them but were quickly cut down by the irritated brunette. His broadsword was almost as tall as him but it was easily hefted over one shoulder. A bruiser ran at him but was impaled and thrown away. Several shoe gazers surrounded the black haired youth but he swung his blade in a large circle and they all vanished into smoke.

Now it was Luke's turn to have his jaw drop.

The brunette laughed. "You're speechless from that? Wow, I must be closer to a hero than I thought!" He gave Luke a supporting hand and a friendly smile. "The name is Zack. You okay?"

**Seraph:**

"Well that went well enough." Terra said triumphantly. Seraph gave him a smirk as the last of the wisps of unversed faded to nothing.

Seraph took another look at his single blade before twirling it and pointing it at the behemoth of a door in front of them. A small orb of energy formed at the tip before a beam of purple shot towards the door and it opened effortlessly.

"Very impressive display," drawled an overly Russian accent from one of the nearby cells. How do you describe this next creature? Humanoid but overly round with four beady eyes in a prison outfit? Sounds about right.

"Say," the creature continued, "Could you please let me out?" Seraph raised his eyebrow in amusement.

"Who are you?" The darkling asked, purely humoring him.

"My name is Doctor Jumba Jookiba. I am…"

"Not interested. Terra, he's all yours."

Seraph walked off with a small wave from over his shoulder. Terra snorted at the poleaxed expression the doctor wore.

Sadly… a certain whale-shark was watching them from a monitor.

**Luke:**

Turns out Zack was an alright guy; Enthusiastic and loyal as a puppy on caffeine but still alright. Apparently he had made it all the way to the finals of the 'Games' that that goat Phil cared about so much about.

So when Zack's opponent in the finals was revealed Luke was visibly gobsmacked.

Zack rushed her with the stupidest look on his face. "Hey! So you're my opponent for the finals! The name is Zack!" Suffice to say, the look on the challenger's face (and the look from the goat that had followed her) deserved a medal.

"Aqua?"

"Luke?"

They stood there staring at each other with mouths agape. Thank the gods, Phil was there to ruin that awkward moment.

"What do you think you're staring at cupcake!? You shirked your training! You aren't getting away this time!"

Momentarily forgetting about Aqua, Luke felt very nervous as Phil closed in on him.

**Seraph:**

Seraph was nervous.

He knew he shouldn't have, but he was. It was like in the garden all over again. Despite the fact that he was staring down a giant alien whale-shark wielding a plasma plaster, he knew that this feeling was wrong. 'Was something wrong with Luke?'

The alien yelled, "I knew I should have eliminated you on the spot."

"And who are you to decide that?"

"I am Captain Gantu. Now stay still so I can vaporize you!" The captain fired a warning shot which Seraph easily evaded. Seraph gave a disbelieving look.

"Is that really your best?" he taunted. Gantu snarled audibly. Several more shots were fired before Seraph raised his dagger at the Captain. "Blind." By the time Gantu could see again Seraph was already gone. The only indicator showing his escape was a discarded vent cover.

The darkling dropped from the vents into a poorly lit room. Red lights barely passed through their translucent cases before blinking. One instant he blended with the darkness, another and he was a bloody silhouette on the platform. His hands went to his pockets as he spied the single glass case on the pedestal at the end of the corridor. The alarms flared as the glass broke and Seraph grabbed what was in the case. The small red marble glowed in the poor light as if judging its beholder.

Seraph shrugged, "Well, as long as they aren't using it…" The darkling walked out of the room with an amused smirk as he nonchalantly tossed around the marble. 'Now why don't we see what Terra's up to?'

**Luke:**

Luke was scared.

He knew he that was the right feeling for now, seeing as he was being yelled at by a half-goat, but there was something else there. Something he knew was wrong. Luke was amused. This feeling was coming from outside his body and it only served to scare him more.

"How dare you run away from your training!? What kind of a hero are you!? I've trained heroes a million times better than you and you think you can just run away! Why I outta-!?"

"Lay off him, Phil." A new voice yelled over. Luke looked over to see a beansprout built blonde in a toga running over to them. "The finals are about to start."

Phil grumbled to himself in annoyance. "Urg. Fine." The satyr turned to the cowering, forced trainee. "Listen up kid. Herc's right. I gotta' be there to ref the match. Come on."

'Herc' put his hand on Luke's shoulder for reassurance. The blonde mouthed, 'You're welcome,' before running after Phil. Luke felt all of his fear leave him in one large exhalation.

It didn't take long for the hikari to find his seat. He watched anxious as Aqua and Zack took their respective spots in the arena. Both heads bowed respectively signaling the start of the match. They charged.

BABABABABABA

Damn it! This took FOREVER! Oh well. Sorry for making you guys wait. Review and all that good junk. Later! :D


	11. Chapter 10-2

Balancing Act

Chapter 10-2: True Power

I only own my OCs and original ideas. That is all. And please remember that the event of both boys are happening at roughly the same time, even if I messed with the canon time line a little.

BABABABABA

**Seraph:**

Seraph was feeling good. His subtle whistling echoed through the halls of the ship as he tossed around the red ball he got from earlier. The power radiating from it sent shivers down his spine. This toy was going to be fun in the long run.

Sirens blared down the hall and the corridor was bathed crimson. Seraph just kept walking, the noise almost music to his ears. At the end of the hall was an automatic door. Past that was a room with two large, ceiling-mounted guns. A holding area could be seen on the ceiling in between the guns, but it was currently empty.

'Okay, a prison with no prison- OOOF!' His thought was cut off as a grey blur shot past him, simultaneously slamming him into the fat doctor from earlier. "You fool!" The darkling heard the doctor yell. Several things happened at the same time. A weird yellow creature changed into a small marble in front of Terra- the blur-, the red marble flew out of Seraph's hand and fell into a small puddle of liquid from a vial the doctor dropped.

The marble shook ferociously and fluorescent mist started pouring out of it. A roar echoed throughout the ship and the marble broke.

Seraph smiled.

In front of him stood an immense draconic figure. It's entire body was covered in black scales save two strong, leathery, black wings.

The doctor went running off as the dragon roared again. Several bolts of lightning rained down from inside the ship and broke the floor of the room. Terra dashed out of the room while Seraph fell to his desired fate. A quick flip and he landed on his feet. The dragon floated before him as if judging him. It snorted.

"Fine then, buddy. Challenge accepted."

**Luke:**

The hikari sat in the Olympian bleachers, surprisingly excited by the scene before him.

Zack delivered a strong forward slash at Aqua who deftly back-flipped. Her legs coiled as she landed and she did several cartwheels back before firing a barrage of ice at Zack. The gladiator slashed them away and jumped into the air, plunging down like a comet. The shockwave knocked Aqua back slightly who slid, only barely recovering with a well-placed spin.

Aqua yelled as she raised her blade to the sky, a bolt of lightning coming down over Zack. He was hit head on and flew back from the impact. Aqua charged forward, taking the chance to lay down several magic mines before firing off more ice shards.

Zack, seeing the shards, coiled from his landing and jumped over the frozen crystals, only to land on the mines. He went up in a brilliant show of sparks, landing on his back on the smooth arena floor. Aqua stood over him with her keyblade at his chest.

"Yield." Zack simply smirked. "Never."

Performing a quick spin on the ground, Zack managed to knock Aqua off balance and pick up his sword. His body glowed gold. "GO, GO, GO!" His sword glowed the same as him as he swung in a haphazard pattern. His blade moved faster with each strike, the momentum knocking Aqua back slightly with each strike.

Zack reached back for a full power strike as Aqua twisted on her heel. The hilt of the keyblade connected with Zack's hand, sending his sword into the air. Aqua followed her spinning motion into a ballerina-esque twirl before she started glowing, well… Aqua. Her spinning increased in speed as magic curtained from her blades tip, twirling along with her. Zack was caught instantly, the impacts simultaneously knocking him away and pulling him into the attack. The final strike sent him flying across the battlefield, just outside of the arena limits.

There was a pause.

"YEAAAAHHHHH!" The crowd cheered for their new champion like it was themselves who had won. Confetti and whistles flew through the air. Trumpets blared. Fire erupted?

In the middle of the arena, a column of smoke dispersed to reveal the lord of the underworld, Hades.

"Holy hydras, it's you!? Here I thought I would get to see what muscle-head was up next, but it turns out to just be a girl. A little bluebird at that."

"Hades!?" Zack yelled from behind. "What are you doing here!?" The SOLDIER's face was awash with rage, but he still hadn't recovered from the fight with Aqua.

"You're Hades? The one that used Zack and tried to cast Terra into darkness?" Aqua asked, starting to seeth.

"Oh, so you're acquainted with that stoic chicken heart?" Hades asked, smirking at his choice of words. He never noticed the key flying at his head. It bounced with a 'thunk' off his skull.

Shaking the unexpected blow off, Hades turned to look at the attacker. The lord of the dead covered his eyes at the sight. "Damn it! Somebody turn off the lights!" A bright flash of luminescence flashed over to Aqua and Zack before going for another strike to Hades head. He quickly smoke traveled to the now long empty stands, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the spots. Luke jumped back from where he landed to stand by Aqua and Zack again.

Aqua watched as Luke's hair flew upward from the sheer force of light energy he was emitting. She couldn't help but notice that he only wielded a single blade.

"You stupid punk! I am the lord of the dead!" Luke didn't even blink. He just stood there, eyes darting all over the place. He picked up every single thing on the arena floor, and also noticed that the temperature had dropped a good amount. That wouldn't be suspicious, but only if Hades wasn't there.

"Who's your backup?" Luke yelled. His shadow started to fade. Hades expression went from fuming to feral.

"Oh, you noticed? Well, no reason to keep him waiting any longer."

Zack was shivering by now from the cold, but he went frigid when Hades snapped his fingers. Aqua started rubbing her uncovered arms which were slowly covering with frost. Several tremors rocked the stadium. Something was coming. Something big.

A gigantic claw of ice reached up from the back of the stadium, clamping onto the leaderboard. A face of jagged glaciers appeared from the horizon and glared down into the stadium. Finally, two large legs formed of pure ice dropped over the walls and impacted with the stadium, freezing solid whatever ground they touched.

Hades yelled," Let the _real_ games begin!" and the titan waved its claw, creating several spears of frozen air. They all launched at Aqua who quickly braced from impact. If she hadn't closed her eyes then she would have been blinded. A wall of white light erupted from the ground, blocking ad deflecting the spears like toothpicks.

Luke raised his dagger, causing the wall to disperse. The normally peaceful boy looked murderous. "I shall be your opponent." Aqua blinked and he was gone.

**Seraph:**

The darkling was laughing maniacally at the powerful sight before him. And at the missing three corridors next to him. Alarms were blaring louder than ever and the draconic figure just smirked like, "That was nothing."

"I knew this would be fun," Seraph said to nobody. His clothing was charred from the dragon's attacks, though it couldn't be seen very well because of the pattern. Seraph wiped some soot from his face as the dragon started charging an attack.

"Oh no you don't." Seraph jumped into the air, several loud dings going off in his head as he concentrated on his target. A louder ding notified him he was at full power. Whipping the dagger for show, Seraph aimed it at his target and a ring of dark projectiles shot forth seeking their victim. And another ring. And another. Three dozen beams of darkness seeking out Seraph's opponent as he willed them to. The dragon stopped charging power and shielded itself with its wings. The following roar shook the ship and knocked Seraph onto his back.

A glare directed at Seraph from the dragon had the darkling laughing as the he regained his balance. He didn't notice his shadow darkening.

Large amounts of lightless light formed at the mouth of the dragon, now seemingly serious. It locked onto Seraph, the killing intent rolling off it in waves.

"Fine then. I'll call your bluff." Seraph locked his back in place as his dagger floated in front of him. It started charging energy, but then he remembered.

He was short one dagger.

The dragon let loose the energy as a blast the size of an aurora, effectively tearing through another wing of the ship. Seraph's shouts of pain were lost in the noise.

**Luke:**

A bright flash of light had Hades scrambling backwards to avoid a dagger slash. "Ha! You missed!" Hades yelled, only to find his 'hair' was extinguished. Seeing the lord of the dead momentarily distracted, Luke flashed again, landing in front of the ice titan. His 'shadow' was now glowing like snow in the sun.

"Nobody threatens Aqua." His voice was flat, emotionless, and cold. A short spark of red flashed through the gems on his guards.

If the titan could have sneered, it would have.

"You've sealed your own fate." The titan reared its head back to breath a blizzard upon the arena. Something shiny appeared in front of Luke, diverting the blast away from the hikari.

The blast hit Hades who had just reignited his hair.

"Hey! Watch it frost-for-brains!" Aqua took that moment to start attacking the god of the dead.

The ice titan moved its claw to its eyes to block the light that Luke emanated. His 'shadow' now stood tall in a corporeal form, protecting Luke from damage. It looked like somebody's upper half floating in midair. Vines of light emulated bulging muscles, forming giant strong arms and roping upwards into a thick neck. A sharp mask acted as the face of the creature, with only thin slits of blue acting as the eyes.

Strong pulses of light traveled down Luke's shadow trail, empowering his personal monster; making it larger. By the time he finished the creature was matching the size of the titan's upper half. It cracked its knuckles for effect.

The two behemoths launched at each other, grappling to see who could overpower the other. The ice titan delivered one powerful knee to the gut of the floating avatar, but it didn't even flinch.

Luke climbed his own shadow up to the mask and pointed his blade at the ice titan's head. More red sparks were polluting his gems and his eyes were glowing like his avatar.

"Sparkga." Several glowing crystals started revolving around Luke in a ring. The ring expanded before floating above him and over to the ice titan. The ring followed the arc of his blade and fell around the titan's neck. Luke clenched his free hand and the crystals stopped moving. He motioned his fist in a cutting pattern across his own neck and the crystals shot inwards.

CRASH

The only remaining occupants of the arena looked to the source of the noise. Hades turned purple.

The head of the ice titan lay on the ground, motionless.

With the sunset behind him, and the cold breeze blowing across the arena keeping his hair in motion, Luke looked powerful. Aqua stared with wide eyes. Hades made a quick exit via smoke cloud.

As the sun continued to set behind him, Luke felt his eyes get heavy, exhaustion from such powerful magic finally catching up to him. Gravity pulled him from the shoulders of his avatar and the red pulses in his gems stopped.

Aqua may have yelled his name, but Luke couldn't hear it. The avatar of light wrapped around him like a protective bubble and hurled him through the stars. Where he was going he wasn't sure. He just hoped he could sleep there.

**Seraph:**

The battered form of the darkling lay on the ground before the dragon lord. It seemed to snort as Seraph struggled to get up. Seraph was many things, but patient was rarely one of them.

A dark aura engulfed him, lifting him onto his feet. His upper body was tense as the power flooded him. His shadow glowed sable before merging with his feet and creeping up his body. His clothing, skin, and hair were all dyed the deepest black, only leaving the gems on his guards and his eyes visible. His eyes glowed crimson while his gems were pulsing with blue sparks. The black energy spread down his arms to his dagger, dying it the same as his skin and creating an energy blade of darkness as tall as himself.

The corrupted being let out a feral, blood curdling scream that rocked the ship. An afterimage was all that remained as Seraph moved around, slashing at the dragon god. Then the afterimage moved as well, the form collapsing on itself and forming a ball of darkness. Every time Seraph moved another afterimage was formed and collapsed.

The dragon weaved and dodged impressively for something its size, but every time it evaded a strike it ran into an afterimage bomb. Slash, bomb, slash, bomb, slash, bomb, slash, bomb, the assault was torture; and still there was a veritable land mine of more afterimages.

Seraph appeared in front of the dragon, emotions unreadable from his masked face. The minefield of black spheres gathered to a single point in front of him, awaiting command. The darkling swung his blade, sending the bomb on its way.

The dragon screamed.

Seraph's cloak of darkness faded and he watched as the dragon slowly broke apart leaving only the single crimson gem. Cracks formed in the gem and it shattered upon contact with the floor.

"That will teach you… stupid…" Seraph faded from consciousness, falling to the ground in a heap. His shadow wrapped around him like a cocoon and carried him out into space to wherever it thought he was needed. He just hoped he could sleep there.

BABABABABABABA

This was… annoying to write. I would get an awesome scene in my head, type it, scrap it, and then get a new idea. At least the action scenes were fun to type. Hope you enjoyed. Review, favorite, and see you all next chapter. Goodnight.


	12. Chapter 11

Balancing Act

Chapter 11: The Sorcerer Supreme

I only own my OCs and original ideas. That is all.

BABABABABABA

It was Luke who awoke first on this strange new world. The world was tiny, just a single island floating in the air with no surroundings save the horizon. A calm wind blew across his face as he sat up, taking in the sparse shrubbery around him and the only building in sight… or possibly existence.

A giant green tower that twisted in all sorts of wrong angles rose to the sky and back. Magic rolled off the structure in waves and coated the surroundings as if it was alive.

Luke shook his head once to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "Okay, this is new."

"You're telling me," Seraph groaned and attempted to sit up, causing Luke to yip in surprise and bounce slightly.

"Wow, that was a rather strong reaction, don't you think?" Luke went defensive. His dagger was drawn in front of his chest in a parrying position. Seraph scoffed.

"You're ridiculous. Come on, time to meet our host." Seraph scratched the back of his head and tapped his dagger on the front door of the tower. It opened instantly, letting him through eagerly.

Stepping inside, both of the boys realized the door they walked in disappeared as it closed. An endless expanse of green light surrounded them with the only physical surface around being the nearly endless staircase in front of them. For the second time ever, the twins may have agreed on something. 'This is ridiculous!' "Well… better get started…"

Luke followed, always several steps behind Seraph. The darkling intimidated him. His attitude was course, abrasive, and some other third adjective that meant the same thing. His posture showed he didn't care, and his expression showed that he was really bored; waiting for something to entertain him. Obviously the uncountable amount of stairs wasn't amusing him.

"Come on! Just how many stairs are there!?" Seraph took a glance back at his light counterpart. He wouldn't stop shaking! He was a coward. Why he got to stay in the vessel, Seraph would never know. His head was always moving, trying to see everything. Given enough time, Luke could probably think his way out of any problem. At least he had something going for him. Okay, why is he wide eyed?

Seraph looked ahead of him again and saw what caught his other's attention. A door. Nope, don't question it. Just accept. There was another 50,000 or so stairs beforehand with no door in sight and now one just pops into reality. Yep, sure.

Seraph tapped it with his dagger and walked in. Luke followed quickly.

Once again the door closed behind them. Unlike last time it didn't disappear. They stood in a large-ish circular room. The back wall was mostly windows and a second door led to an unmarked room. Shelves of vials and books lined the walls and a sizeable chest lay locked on the side wall. In the center of the room was a rather impressive desk covered in papers and tomes. Sitting behind it was an aged wizard with hard features wearing blue robes and a pointy blue hat.

Luke went sheepish as he realized that they had entered somebody else's home uninvited. Seraph just raised an eyebrow.

The old man had a pensive look on his face; his hands in a contemplative gesture as he rested his elbows on his desk. "I was wondering when you would appear before me." Seraph snorted.

"And who are you?" Obviously he didn't realize who this was.

"I am Yen Sid. Master of this tower. Which you are now in." Yen Sid gave it a moment to sink in. Luke was the first to react, giving a swift bow.

"So sorry, sir. We didn't know." Seraph scoffed, smacking his other on the back of the head. "Don't bow to that old coot. You look ridiculous!" Yen Sid looked unamused.

"I shall excuse that for now, considering it was I who brought you here." The boys could only blink.

"Excuse me? / You did what!?" Honestly, the sorcerer expected this outburst.

"I was attempting to limit the damage you would do on your own. Surely you noticed."

Luke thought back to his past escapades. The Ent in the Dark Forest with Ven. The sewing table in the castle with Terra. The glacial titan in Olympus. Xehanort…

Simultaneously, Seraph was thinking back to his battles. Maleficent on the bridge. The Dragon in the spaceship. The pumpkin beast that attacked Aqua. Eraqus…

Wherever they went, somebody was scared, someplace was destroyed, or something was killed.

"Yeah, what of it!?/ Umm… Maybe…" Seraph/ Luke answered. Yen Sid couldn't hold back a smile.

"You both are exactly the same, and yet completely different. Fragments, lost to the space between worlds, given a form to mock that of what you used to be. Fate seems to truly despise those individuals that spawned you. And yet, you could both grow to be several times stronger than them with practice."

"Woah, woah, woah! You knew my parents!?" Seraph exclaimed.

"No, I knew who spawned you. You both were not born into these worlds." The darkling staggered back like he'd been stabbed. Luke's eyes went wide.

"Yes, those who spawned you. Have you ever noticed that your affinities are so controversial to your personalities? Have you noticed how certain individuals react to your mere presence? There is a reason for this.

You are the light of Xehanot and darkness of Eraqus." Yen Sid gave them a second to try and retort but nothing came back. He started stroking his beard.

"No witty retort?"

"How am I supposed to retort that!? / I'm what…?" Yen Sid pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You both know nothing. No matter. I guess that I may as well answer any questions you have, assuming you have any."

"Yeah! When do I get my body back?" Luke face palmed at his other half's outburst. He was still going on about that? Apparently the master had a similar reaction.

"It is not just your body. It belongs to both of you. I do not know what fool separated you both, but it was never meant to happen. If you are so inclined you may merge but you will not be able to simply take the body from Light."

"L-Light? But… my name is Luke."

"You were given the name Luke when Eraqus took you in for training. The same stands for you Dark." Seraph grunted, folding his arms. "Light and Dark were names given to you when you were separated from your sources."

Luke began to pout and Seraph glared. "But… That's so cold. / Seriously? That's the best you could do?"

"They were simply placeholders before you were sentient." Both boys twitched at that. "When separated you were pure energy. It was by either luck or accident that you found a vessel. Anything else?"

"Yeah, you mentioned merging." Seraph stated. He knew exactly what he wanted.

"It will not be difficult. You have achieved the state before. It was when you fought the Unversed in The Castle of Dreams." A light bulb went off in both the boys' heads.

"Oooooooooooh…" Yen Sid chuckled. It was nostalgic to see this, almost like Eraqus and Xehanort were in front of him again, still young and visiting the tower with their master. Ahh, memories.

"I would highly advise you not do this in my room of study. You are both stronger than when you first separated, and I would rather not have my papers blown everywhere. Who knows, you may even gain something more. You will not be able to leave unless you merge so I highly suggest doing so."

The master glanced out the window of his study. "I sense dark times ahead. Hopefully you two will be enough to tip the balance in our favor.

Seraph gave his cockiest grin while Luke saluted. "You doubt me? / Sir."

"Then return to the Land of Departure. I feel the strongest dread there, which can only mean bad tidings."

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Seraph and Luke stood in the small grassy area outside the tower, staring at each other determinedly. "You ready?"

"S-Sure." Their forms compacted into glowing orbs of pure energy, similarly to when they fought the Pumpkin to protect Aqua. The orbs of white and black spun rapidly in place, floating in air until they began clashing with each other. Sparks and arcs of electricity exploded outward with each clash until the orbs spun around each other and clashed one more time, a shockwave of white and black erupting outwards.

What stood in the impact zone was the twilit armor both had grown to call their own. From the back sprouted six large, black energy wings, flapping of their own accord. Their daggers elongated into true keyblades.

"Why did I hold off on this!?" Seraph exclaimed, only to be mentally slapped by Luke.

"Don't go power hungry on me, Seraph. We have to get home."

"Bwahahahaha! Okay, but I'm not holding back once we get there."

And with that they launched into the sky, leaving the Mysterious Tower far behind them.

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Okay guys, chapter 11! Didn't think I would get this far. Sorry for the info-dump but it needed to be done. And Yen Sid is the perfect excuse! Thank you to everyone who has stayed with me and hello to anyone who is just joining. Review, favorite, and I will see you guys next chapter.


	13. Chapter 12

Balancing Act

Chapter 12: Tragedy

I only own my OCs and original ideas. That is all.

BABABABABABA

Nothing was fine with this world, Luke and Seraph knew it well. Just floating in the space between worlds and staring down at it they could see the bright and bleak flashes coming from The Land of Departure. This was not a good sign. They flew closer.

Luke and Seraph were now floating just above the training grounds. What they saw was Eraqus and Terra, fighting for blood. Eraqus was near blinding, covering himself in a coat of light with various orbs, beams, and spires of his preferred element. Terra was striking with the force of a mountain, a sickly purple aura surrounding him. The land was his to control, with giant stalagmites rising to his command, meteorites falling at his beck and call, and the ground quaking with each step. Occasionally he would fire off volleys of dark magic and use giant, dark hand constructs to attack. Luke and Seraph could tell that they were both fighting with the utmost conviction, but also knew neither could kill the other.

Turning their head, they saw the triumphant sneer of Master Xehanort watching from a nearby balcony. The aged user of darkness was waiting for something. Both boys glared from behind the helmet of their armor, but turned back to the action. Both fighters were ragged. This was hardest battle either had faced in the longest time and it took all of their effort to dodge, parry, and counterattack effectively.

Another meteor fell, only to be sliced in half by Eraqus. Terra dashed away from a volley of light orbs before going for another volley of darkness. Lazers circling Eraqus rose to defend him and intercepted the entire volley. Eraqus yelled, causing the white aura around him to explode outwards and create duplicates of his keyblade. The duplicates spun before becoming pillars of light that chased down Terra. The titan dashed right through them before jumping into the air, his keyblade glowing bronze, and plunged it into the terrace. The resulting shock-wave knocked Eraqus off his feet and into the training hall's door, before falling all the way down the stairs to rest at Terra's feet, kneeling.

The armor plunged forward as Xehanort dropped from his perch. Xehanort walked down the stairs menacingly, eyes filled with ambition. And orb of darkness formed in his hand, and he took aim. The armor dropped down in front of it, taking the full blast and knocking off the helmet. It was the head of Seraph.

"Ah yes. The prodigal son returns." Xehanort taunted with his raspy voice. His golden eyes flashed at the now full keyblades that the darkling held. "Though Luke was so much more entertaining."

Both Terra and Eraqus were exhausted beyond measure. They could barely move, let alone stand. The auras of power they once emitted had faded quickly.

"I think I'm over Eraqus now. _You_ are much worse," Seraph returned the taunt, glaring at the old man that had almost killed his former master.

"Come at me then, dark apprentice." Seraph launched at the old man, breaking into twin orbs of light and darkness. Xehanort sidestepped the light and blocked the one of darkness. Seraph rematerialized in his normal attire with a single blade in hand. The blade was being held by Xehanort who snorted, amused. Seraph smirked.

"It seems you've lost something."

"Have I?" Rainbow crystals flew from the stairway at the old master, forcing him to let go of Seraph's keyblade and dodge and spin to face the new threat. Luke brought down his blade on his creator. His eyes shown clearly with his purpose.

"And the boy that escaped me has stopped running."

"This is for the garden."

Several more rainbow jewels formed and flew at the old master. At the same time, Seraph and Luke struck at Xehanort with everything they had. The cheeky codger summoned several balls of darkness to absorb Luke's crystals while expertly dodging the boys' blades. They never connected once, except for the times when Xehanort caught their blades only to throw one of the boys across the terrace. Luckily there were two boys so one was always on top of him.

Xehanort was still amused.

Once again the boys changed into wisps. The twin orbs circled around him and clashed in the middle, forcing him to catch them. He knew that the light one would burn, but he didn't expect the dark one to as well, possibly worse.

"How is this possible? My control over darkness is absolute!"

"I am not your darkness!" The voice was distorted, and echoed slightly, but it was definitely Seraph. The wisps sparked more dangerously, leaving sears on the master's gloves.

The boys changed back to their true forms, throwing Xehanort off balance just enough to land a clean hit across his side from Seraph. Xehanort saw as Luke slashed down at him and fired an orb of darkness. It hit the hikari's blade, bounced off, and went flying.

Right at Eraqus.

The boys turned as they heard Eraqus' last gasp before he disappeared in Terra's arms. Luke and Seraph were frozen, giving Xehanort the chance he needed to punt them over to Terra.

Evil laughter filled the air. "Well done, Luke. You had arrived in time to attempt to foil my plans, only for you to cause their fruition." Luke could only stare in horror at where his former master used to be. Terra was in tears. Seraph's expression went sour. All of them were feeling the exact same rage towards Xehanort and he was basking in it.

"You all have progressed remarkably, but now is not the fated venue. Find me in the place where all Keyblade masters met their end; the Keyblade Graveyard! Their, your beloved Ventus and Aqua shall meet their end! Terra, the last of the light in your heart will have died, and you two..." The old master trailed off, letting their imaginations work to fill in the blanks.

Another orb of darkness formed in Xehanort's hand and rocketed for the sky. It rose over everything and exploded outwards, creating a black hole. Several of the chains connecting the separate islands of the Land of Departure broke from the force, causing many of the connected buildings and towers to fly into the void.

"I shall be waiting." And with that a dark portal opened behind the master, taking him to the Keyblade Graveyard.

Terra gave a short prayer for his friends before donning his armor and flying off to the Keyblade Graveyard.

Luke was looking sick. "I just… killed master Eraqus..." -smack-

A red mark shone on Luke's face from where Seraph smacked him. The darkling picked his other up by the shirt collar. "Listen Luke, because I am only going to say this once. You did not kill Eraqus. Xehanort did. Understood?"

Luke nodded, nursing the stinging sensation that was still in his cheek. "Then how about we teach the baldy how badly he screwed himself the moment he let us off that island."

"R-right."

A brief flash of light and their angelic armor was around them again. Next stop; Keyblade Graveyard.

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Special thanks to 'LokiAU10' and 'Keeper of the One Winged Angel' for the positive support.

Hope this was enough action for you guys. I had fun writing it. Only a couple more chapters and then this story is done. Thank you everyone who has been reading this and been supporting Balancing Act. Review, favorite, and I will see you all next chapter.


	14. Chapter 13

Balancing Act

Chapter 13: Conflict at the Graves

I only own my OCs and original ideas. That is all.

BABABABABABA

This place was not good.

At one point this land had been known as the Badlands, and it deserved that title. Their was no vegetation, no life, the world was cold and desolate. Littered around the world was an expanse of chasms, twisting like a maze in on itself with giant cyclones of negative energy filling each path. The once proud mountains were now scarred, and sometimes blown through completely. Craters littered the landscape, giving it a broken appearance. But beyond all of the chasms, craters, mountains, and twisters, was the truly horrifying image.

Imagine a field of wheat that extends on forever. Kill all of the grain, reduce it to dust, and trample it flat. Then replace all that used to be wheat with an endless field of abandoned, rusting, breaking keyblades stuck teeth first into the ground.

This is the Keyblade Graveyard.

The air was tense as the armor landed. Ventus, Terra, and Aqua all stood together. The twins separated into wisps before walking up to the other wielders. It looked like they were expecting something.

Seraph started.

"Turns out that I was Eraqus' inner darkness. He really did detest the element." The trio had nothing to say.

"And I was born from the light of Xehanort..." Again, the trio was speechless. The quintet went silent, washing themselves in the melancholy moment.

"Behold," everybody spun to face Xehanort who had walked up side by side with the masked boy, "These lifeless keys were once full of power, united with the hearts of their masters. On this soil, keyblade masters of light and darkness were locked in combat, as a great Keyblade War raged." He was perhaps too enthusiastic about the subject, it showed in the tone of his voice and his numerous hand gestures.

"Countless keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one, ultimate key. And it will soon belong to me." The old master made a show of pointing at Ven like some prize. "X-Blade!"

All five apprentices scowled at Xehanort and donned their armors. Ven made to move forward, only to be pushed back by Terra who launched forward, jumping at Xehanort with a battle cry. Xehanort smirked and raised a gloved hand, raising the ground like a plateau and smacking Terra skyward. Xehanort then rose the ground he was standing on even further than that, glowering down at Terra on the way up. His evil laughter echoed across the battlefield as he performed complex hand gestures, causing the sky to darken and forcing many hundred of the abandoned keys to his bidding.

The keys swirled like a cyclone, launching at each of the heroes with murderous intent. Ven was the first to be smacked away, followed by the masked boy swinging to ride on top of them who guided them to attack Terra. Aqua was so distracted by Terra that Luke/ Seraph had to tackle her out of the way of another cyclone that erupted from underground.

"Aqua!" Ven yelled with concern for her safety. The bluenette rose her keyblade to the air and shouted, "Terra!" sending an orb of magic to the young titan to protect him from the onslaught. It lasted for about five seconds before breaking, sending Terra stumbling to platform where Xehanort was waiting. Ven raced to the top of the plateau in order to help Terra, only for Xehanort to grab his helmet, crack it from physical force, freeze him, and then throw him off of the plateau. A cry of, "Ven!" came from Terra as his friend and brother figure was thrown, but that moment of hesitation let the first cyclone come back and drive Terra off the plateau and into the ground.

Seraph yelled out, "Luke!" and sent his other's brilliant wisp out just in time to catch the frozen light. His helmet had come off at some point during the fall, and the only movement indicating relative unharm from him was the eyes, constantly flickering side to side.

Seraph watched as the keyblade cyclone came back towards him and summoned his blade. Luke could feel the pull from his other and yelled, "Seraph!" before tossing his blade to his dark half. Seraph grinned and both blades spun in front of him. "Megaflare!" The magnificent display of power obliterated the cyclone of blades but was ultimately put to shame as Xehanort released an orb of darkness and parted the sky, revealing a heart shaped moon. The blue light of the moon shone down on the battlefield like a spotlight for Xehanort's final ambition.

A small explosion went off from the base of the plateau, showing Terra on his keyblade glider racing back up the plateau. At the same time, Luke was still cradling the frozen Ven and Seraph was panting from the Megaflare he loosed.

"Hey kiddos, probably not your best idea to blow your load before you even get to the good part." Luke's eyes narrowed as the newcomer presented himself.

Braig.

Seraph could feel the disgust rolling off of his other and was amazed. Normally it was himself blowing his top off at someone he disliked. This guy must have done something especially bad to Luke to get him like this.

Meanwhile, Luke was shivering in anger, his eyes literally glowing from the energy he was putting off. Braig just smirked. "Hey, how 'bout you leave that Popsicle with me, so that you can have your little fight with Terra. You can't be too happy about him deep-sixing your master"

Of course the eye-patch wearing marksman was talking to Aqua, completely ignoring Luke. "Who are you?" Aqua asked.

Braig didn't answer, which only made Luke more angry. This guy was arrogant, conceded, and cruel. "You think that you've got some big role to play. As if. You're only here so that when I finish you off, Terra will succumb to the darkness. So who would like to-" -zip- Braig shut up as he felt a burn across his face. A rainbow crystal had just flown past with no remorse.

Luke glared at the man with the heat of a thousand suns. "You talk too much." The hikari held out his hands, letting the keyblades of both of his halves materialize. The hilt of the blue and white blade was now adorned with a demonic eye, open fully and unblinking.

Braig blinked a couple times before smirking. "Oooh, you're the kid we beat down back at Radiant Garden. Haha! This will be-" Again he was cut off as more crystals flew at him.

"Stop. Talking." Luke's shadow started to fade. That was Braig's first chance to stop and walk away.

"You've got that angry look down. Good. It makes my job easier." Braig pulled out his arrow guns and started firing, but each one was blocked by a crystal. Luke's shadow started to glow. That was Braig's second chance to stop and walk away. Luke wouldn't give him a third.

Braig was in mid laugh when a blinding light lit up his vision, forcing him away. His previous position was now a crater in the shape of a fist. The area where they were standing was fully lit by Luke's fully formed avatar. Both it and its master were glaring down at the one-eyed sure shot with their arms crossed.

"Since when could you do that!?" Braig yelled. A stray sweat drop made its way down his brow. Ven and Seraph took a moment to fully absorb what was happening while Aqua reflected on the last time she had seen this ability of his and just what it meant.

_'I was born from the light of Xehanort.' _That got her mental gears turning. _'Does that mean Xehanort has a similar ability?'_

Back to the conflict. Conflict is more appropriate as fight wouldn't fit the situation correctly. Luke constantly shot out light crystals for Braig to dodge. While dodging them, he also had to stay away from avatar that the hikari spawned, and it was no easy task. Currently the avatar was twice the size of the boy, floating just off the ground and chasing Braig around the area. Its giant arms only missing Braig by inches because the gunslinger would constantly flit to other areas in the blink of an eye. Braig would fire shots from his arrow guns that would be intercepted by the light crystals or by the light avatar. Blinded by anger and rage, Luke lashed out without restraint. Red sparks shot violently through the boy's crystals.

A loud battle cry sounded from Luke and several dozen more crystals shot out from his body, chasing down Braig. The gunslinger dodged again, but his back was now trapped against the cliff side. The crystals moved again and surrounded him. The ring shot inwards, forcing Braig to jump to avoid them. He looked down at the ground in triumph at the attack missing but it quickly faded as he looked forward again. It was all white.

An empowered roar of "Submit!" rang throughout the graveyard as the avatar's fist connected squarely with Braig's chest, forcing him several inches into the cliff.

The fist pulled away slowly, revealing a wide eyed Braig groaning in pain. Across the rock was Luke panting and sweating profusely, obviously straining from the prolonged use of his avatar and magic projectiles.

"I -gasp- regret -gasp- nothing." And with that he turned back into a wisp and rejoined his other.

Braig fell from his indentation flat on his face. Aqua was on him in a moment, keyblade poised. Braig just laughed.

"That's right. I keep forgetting, 'Don't mess with keyblade wielders.'" The sharpshooter rolled out of the way, groaning as his body protested. At the same time, a familiar black and red shape descended from the cliff, keyblade aimed right for Aqua's head.

And between the exhaustion from the mega-flare and the backlash from accepting the exhausted Luke, Seraph could only watch.

"Aqua!"

Her head turned to who called her name and then she was on the ground.

BABABABABABA

All right guys. Almost there. I am not apologizing for how I ended this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed, review, favorite, and I will see you all next chapter.


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